Suitcase Art

  Disappointments can lead to some good things, so when my long planned trip to Arizona was cancelled the most symbolic object of the trip suddenly became an art project. Made in the 1940's, a dirty old suitcase, long stored in damp basement corners, suddenly had a purpose again.

   There were actually two suitcases; this is the smaller, second one, and shows the original condition of both suitcases.
   There was no plan, I just started painting.

   The desert appeared! I love acrylic paint; it sticks to almost everything and dries fast. That's good for painting things like suitcases, furniture, and more. I'm not concerned with making perfect art with this, I want color and I want to get my ideas out onto a surface. Later I might return and change things, or go on to make a painting on canvas that develops the idea into a more finished picture. Right now, I'm remembering the deserts I love and putting those southwest colors out where I can see them the rest of the snowy, white winter.

   Here's the sides:

   Leo the Cat likes the colors! I worked on the sides while deciding what to do with the pictures on the front and back. I went back and forth between the sides and the larger pictures.

   After the first side was done, it was left on the hearth near the wood stove to dry more quickly, then on to the back for another scene. This one is a view in Saguaro National Park, looking out to the southwest across a dry flat, to the mountains where Kitt Peak National Observatory http://www.noao.edu/kpno/ is located. 

   Here is the ready to travel suitcase. Even though I'm not going to see the desert this year, it was fun to visit it with paint.