Prayer Boxes

I'm mulling over an idea for an extensive prayer box project, and these are a couple of the try outs I did. If I go ahead with the project I'll need more than one hundred individual objects, so I'm experimenting now with a view to choosing materials and techniques that are not too expensive and won't take an eternity to carry out.

Experimenting is important. Not all experiments work out, and not all work out in their entirety, but some do, which is nice, and you can also make serendipitous discoveries in your failures. I know I do. That was the case with these boxes. I was trying out a halo approach, in which the result didn't suit my taste, but in doing so, the slip of a Pitt pen and my attempt at correcting it led me to the verdigris you can see on the face. Now, that I liked a lot!

I also experimented with painting, stamping, and embossing background boards. These are abachi wood (inexpensive but apparently not available where I live), which I like to use, but I also have a series of balsa (cheaper, lighter, slightly easier to obtain) tests in various states of preparation. The board behind the box on the left is unpainted, and the board behind the box on the right is painted black and stamped and embossed in gold.

When I'm through, I'll know which combinations of materials and approaches I want to use, which will save me time in the execution of the larger project. But the experiments are anything other than wasted time: I'll jazz them up a little, and they'll make lovely eyecatchers and raks.