the shrine class
Unit 1
Assemblage and Painting
• Assembling and Painting •
Assembling your shrine
Painting your shrine
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Cigar box shrine by Betty Radford
Mosaic shrine by Laurie Mika
Welcome fellow artist, our journey awaits us, a time to rest, contemplate, create, and shine.
What better time in life than now to think about honoring something, someone, someplace. I think we get so wrapped up in the future and what it holds, that we forget the present and what we already have. There is so much we can be grateful for right now.
The above photo is my first shrine, I made it using and old box. I wanted to honor all the dogs I have had in my life. Each one was special in their own way, I can remember each one. Yes, some I felt closer too than others, but each one was a gift, I loved them all. Dogs don't seem to live that long, they are born with what we all strive so hard to find, enlightenment, and the true meaning of love.
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I used each dogs tag to frame the box, a skeleton dog from Mexico to rest inside. Their names are glued inside, along with an old dog food can wrapper. Fur, crystals and other oddities also rest inside and along the top. This is a shrine that will grow with time.
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I have included photo's of two shrines, pictured on the left. I found these on pinterest, you might check out pinterest for inspiration. These are here as examples of how a shrine can be a piece of art, an expression, and so much more.
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A shrine can be many things, and mean many things. I like to think of them as little boxes, filled with things we honor, and inspire to.
Taking the time to collect the items for your shrine is sacred. It can take months or even years to collect. And than one can always add to a shrine.
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I hope this journey together will bring you to a place of much peace, and gratitude. If this is achieved than I have done my part.
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With many blessing, let us begin.
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Peacefully Heidi F Kummli
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Copyright © 2020
by Heidi F Kummli
All rights reserved. This course or any portion there of it, may not be reproduced, or used in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author.
Assembling your shrine
Materials needed
• shrine or small box
• Masking tape
• Aleene's super thick tacky glue
• toothpick and q-tips
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This class supplies you with a wooden shrine to assemble. But if you don't have that, a small box can work. A cigar box can make a lovely shrine, or any small box that seems the right size and shape for your idea.
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These wooden shrines were made especially for me, I was able to customize the size and designs. They are easily assembled using Super Thick Tacky glue or any wood glue you may have. I use a toothpick to spread the glue where needed. If there is any excess glue, I find a wet Q-tip works fine for clean up. You can use masking tape to hold the shrine together if needed while it dries.
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I prefer to glue my shrine together first and than paint it. But you may find that painting the pieces first, and than assembling works better for you. You may also find that gluing some of the pictures into the shrine while not assembled works best for you too. For myself I feel I needed the shrine together, so that I have a better idea of the placement of pictures. Think about if the shrine will be hanging on a wall or if a shelf, at what level.
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You also may want to paint the knobs or legs of your shrine, and the base, before gluing them together. If you have a shrine with a cutout design in front, do you want to paint or add some ribbon, fabric or paper behind it before gluing it?
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These are all things to consider, there is no right or wrong way, only your way.
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painting your shrine
Materials needed
• assembled shrine
• Acrylic paints, two colors or more
• paintbrushes
• q-tips for clean up
• stencils can be fun.
• sandpaper or nail file
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Once your shrine is glued and dried, its time to paint. I like to use a lighter color of paint for the inside of the box. It seem easier to see what is inside when it is lighter. But than again, once you start to add pictures etc, you may not even see what color the inside is.
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I find a small flat paintbrush works best. I start on the inside, and extend the color onto the shelf. You may want to blend your colors to add some excitement. Yet I try to use only two colors, one inside, one outside.
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After the inside is painted, I move to the exterior. You will find you need to allow the sides to dry first before moving onto the back and bottom. I have tried to paint the exterior all at once, to only find out I am touching wet paint. If you get paint someplace you don't want it, a wet Q-tip can help clean it, but only if the paint is still wet.
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I use a smaller size brush to paint the knob legs. Once your paint has dried, I use some sandpaper or a nail file and rough it up a bit. I like the feel of it being old and weathered, but you may not.
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It can be fun to use stencils in certain areas. Take time to consideration where you might be adding some bead embroidery components, or covering with something.
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You may seal your piece if you like. I don't feel the need too, but this is your shrine.
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