THE BEGINNING

A long time ago (like 5 years, at least), I bought a bunch of old cigar boxes at a garage sale. I was with my friend Amie and we spent the following couple of hours trying to come up with what we were going to do with them. Purses? Hats? Jewelry Boxes? The conversation turned to what we called shrines. Little shadow boxes made to reflect a person's interest or  feelings. Well, unfortunately, the rest is not history and the boxes ended up in my basement with the rest of the junk I once thought would make me a million dollars (remember the clay medallions?).

Then, two years ago I met a person who became very important to me. Turns out he was a cigar smoker/expert. He saw the boxes and was curious. I gave him the spiel about the shrines and the moment passed.

A week or so later, he showed up at my office covered in glitter with a shrine he made out of one of his cigar boxes. It was fantastic! Mirror, glitter and the Virgin of the Gualdalupe looking beatific nestled in the gaudy brilliance.  He always had a thing for religious kitsch and it worked perfectly in this medium. He only made a few shrines and got bored of it quickly. But, I was inspired. For Valentine's one year, I applied my own vision to the idea and gave him my first shrine.

It was such a great project for me--combining so many things I love: collage, decoupage, clutter, the smell of cigars and mixed metaphors.

I was hooked. But, for a couple of years I only made them as gifts and had no intention of doing anything more. But in 2009 making shrines became a passion. I introduced to the "world" at the first annual Craft Lake City in August 2009 as a selected artist. I even had a small show in January of 2010 at KAYO Gallery in SLC

I still work on them, but it's more of a hobby now and I still love to give them as gifts.


THE ART

I create cigar-box shrines and plaques using an eclectic variety of materials: from ribbons and lace to skulls and religious statuary.

The shrines pay homage to the many things people worship (our lady of guadalupe, elvis, ganesha, calaveras), and can be custom-made to honor your idols

THE INSPIRATION

Our society is mad with the worship of idols.The four icons in my logo represent  what I see as our primary obssesions: death, love, religion and fame. We look to objects or people who represent these to show us the way to happiness. We ask them to accept responsibility for our own insufficient lives. We crave the high we project upon them and are fascinated when there lives go right and, especially, when they go wrong. The result is a dangerous falsity that misdirects and distracts. We pay the attention to false idols that we should paying to our own lives, hearts and souls.

THANKS

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to keep on shrining. And a special thanks to the mysterious man with the cigars who got the whole thing started.