The Leaving and the Left – Teardrop on the Fire Opening Exhibition 08.07.09 • Noteworthy* Paper&Press

I used muriatic acid to rust the screws. Once I got them to rust the way I wanted them, I coated them with an acrylic finish to prevent further rusting.

uggestion, I made one without wood, but instead used metal. His reasoning for the switch is that wood is too warm, but metal is cold, and the pieces seem to have a cold theme. I don’t think the theme is cold. Rational, yes. Clinical, maybe. While all loves are different, looking back with a clear and rational head into past relationships to learn what worked and what didn’t is a positive way to both honor what went before while building towards a successful and long-lasting relationship.

Should I quarantine each person’s sentiments per piece? For this one, I mixed letters from two different individuals with the idea that these types of emotions are universal. I’m thinking that maybe it doesn’t work within the piece, and that I should isolate feelings from individual writers. Still include both love and loss in one piece, just keep it focused on one person per piece. That will mean making more than one piece per person.

Initially, I had intended to use snippets of old love letters, juxtaposed with after-the-breakup letters to illustrate that love and sadness can exist in the same space, although maybe in different time continuums. Acknowledging and honoring both disparate feelings is important. Attempting to replace love with hate isn’t truly possible or healthy.

I’ve been thinking about an art project of snippets of old letters under stacks of sandwiched glass mounted on wood. Details aren’t worked out yet, but here are some initial sketches of how the glass might be laid out, along with some notes. More as I progress on this. Doing data mining tonight.