Hemingway's Lost Suitcase
In December 1922, Ernest Hemingway was in Switzerland on assignment as a correspondent for the Toronto Daily Star when he asked his first wife, Hadley in Paris, where they were living at the time, to bring him his first novel, untitled, but rumored to be the juvenalia of A Farewell To Arms. She packed up all of Hemingway’s papers in a suitcase including the carbons, to take them to him in Switzerland. While the train was still standing in the Gare de Lyon, Hadley went to buy a bottle of Evian water for the trip. She left the suitcase unattended on the train station platform. When she came back, it was gone. This shadowbox titled "Hemingway's Lost Suitcase" imagines the thief brought the suitcase to his Parisian tenement opposite the Gare de Lyon to examine the contents of what he thought would be valuable. When he realized it was nothing but meaningless papers, he threw them to the floor. The original manuscript was never recovered and Hemingway rewrote much of his lost war writings from memory. A Farewell to Arms was published in 1929. The shadowbox is an accordian baffle to an antique camera. The second shadowbox, to be lit from behind by a micro LED, is a vintage postcard of a 1920s train station in Paris.
Note: this shadow box is not currently for sale.
Japanese Tea Room
Here is a Japanese tea room, built into an old CD case. This is a piece that could go with Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata’s Thousand Cranes --a story of desire, regret, and the almost sensual nostalgia that binds the living to the dead. To the best of my research on tea ceremonies, the elements incorporated into this shadowbox include: the low table and Tatami mat with floor pillows; the hot water kettle and tea bowls. Behind this scene is the Tana, (utensil stand) with "the wastewater receptacle (kensui) on the bottom shelf and the water ladle (hishaku) and lit rest (futaoki) can be displayed (kazaru) on the top." To the left is the Ro, a sunken firepit. The room's decorations are sparse, with only two plants and a hanging scroll. Much of the renovations to the original box were done by hand, with a hanging shelf and rice paper, which is beautifully lit up by an LED light from the back.
A Cozy Book Nook
One day, browsing through an antique store, I came upon this enchanting hard-bound book published in 1906. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady had such beautiful hand-drawn paintings of botanicals with observations on her daily walks about Nature, that I had to create some kind of diorama around it. I didn't bind the book, but let it sit freely, so it can be read, and the pages re-positioned on the diorama to reflect the different months of the diary. The rocking chair and coffee table are not my own, a Scandanavian design, so to complete the look, I made a similar bookshelf by hand to complement the brown edging of the furniture. This is a cozy book nook with pages for the "walls" and just a lovely, outdoorsy, folkloric vibe to it.
A Room of One's Own
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A Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf first published in 1929. The essay is an argument for both a literal and figural space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by men. Within a vintage cigar box is a miniature writing nook with a handmade table, chair and cork board, a vintage postcard of the Maine coast as a picture window and a blotter, a dictionary, a marked up manuscript. And of course, a glass of wine...just because.
Each "Room of One's Own" shadow box is one of a kind. $65. See our Etsy store for more details.
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Here is another cigar box version of A Room of One's Own (and my favorite) featuring handmade furniture, a vintage postcard of the Maine coast with an old fashioned typewriter and rotary telephone, a map of the world, a marked up manuscript, a burning cigarette and a glass of Killarney Irish whiskey...because none of this is poetry until it's all together....in one room.
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"I have a best seller in me, I just know it."
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A vintage jewelry box is converted into a miniature 1930s dive bar where a failed writer drinks away his talent.
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When you work so hard on your manuscript and the wine glass tips and you're like 'I hate my life.'
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Hidden panels in the sides of the box will contain rejection slips from famous writers.
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Note: this shadow box is not currently for sale.
A Day At The Beach in Maine
This fish bowl shadow box has a handmade Adirondack chair, a glass of wine, flip flops and real Maine beach sand.
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Have a glass of wine this summer and read my book, The Ghost Trap.
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If you want a customized shadowbox, Contact me for details.