Secretary Blues

So the other day I had a friend come over and she wanted to see my studio and all my collections etc. She was very interested in all of it and we talked for several hours. It was this exchange that sparked my next project. She noticed my blue and white collection and said she had a blue and white dish set. 

I also showed her some of my encaustics and how I like to incorporate them into my collage/assemblages and this was how my piece started to come together. Top and centered is a wood encaustic piece I made with lace and blue encaustic wax. Also pictured above are things I pulled from the "Blue and White" shelf. I added some vintage blue children's blocks and a wooden case from Dinosaur magnets that I bought at a thrift store. The small figures I collected over the years. 

The old bottle of ink was from my mom as well as the fountain pen. I then found a page of short hand script, from this I got the idea that this piece would be about my mom and her days as a Secretary in New York City in the 50's. The two pitchers didn't seem to fit the theme, so I took a cup and saucer from another set- this seemed to go better.  The elephants were also out.

On top of the encaustic collage I nailed this blue glass heart, to represent my love for my mother.

I lined the inside of the box with the shorthand paper and blue gingham washi paper tape.

The final touch was a strand of pearls to tie it all together. I called my mom today and quizzed her on her early jobs. She was fuzzy on the details but did remember that her first job was as a secretary at the FBI in NYC. Her job was to go take notes from the FBI agent and then go back and write them up. 

Her second job as a secretary was at an advertising agency in NYC and the two major clients she remembers were Chivas Regal and The Rose Bowl Parade. She said she remembers them getting to sample the liquor at work.

This is so far removed from the mom I know, it is fun to picture her before raising a family of 5 and seeing her going to work on the bus and shopping on 5th avenue during her lunch hour or walking through Central Park.