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Painted Diary Box

I was looking at the artwork of Azul Thomé and dreaming about how I’d like to be able to paint like her. I thought for a bit. I have no real patience going on a course and, besides, usually I’m only really interested in what I can create from myself, whatever it’s like. I’m not interested in painting like anyone else. One only gets better by trying, by working at it. So I got out my acrylics and started decorating a couple of diaries and a piece of bark rounded like a bowl:

Decorated diaries
Decorated diaries and circle of bark.

Pleased that the colour had come back into my life, I thought, if I decorate diaries, why not the wooden boxes I keep them in?

I have three wooden boxes from Hobbycraft and The Works that I store some of my diaries in. I dived in and started painting the outside and the inside of one of them and varnishing it. Here is the result, a monstrous, pink, shiny box painted with a tree, of course, and roots on the outside …

diary box
Diary box.
Base of diary box
Base of diary box.

and a figure inside, the guardian of my diaries:

Inside diary box
Inside diary box showing the head and arms of a guardian goddess.

I wanted to paint the figure as a goddess. Then I added face paint and she began to look male. Perhaps the figure represents the sacred union of the Masculine and Feminine. Now though, I tend to think of her as a ‘she’, a woman of the Wild, Golden Sun and she’s discovered a nest (just as I like finding nests), a nest of memories, thoughts, dreams.

Diary box with diaries
Diary box with diaries.

My diaries are strangely special to me. They are what I’ll leave behind, as I have no children, even if my writing is just banal or drivel. The box is a sort of treasure chest and that reminds me of the grave goods of the Ancient Egyptians. I’m not really thinking of death and beyond though, I’m enjoying making creations and painting. I may be improving a bit I don’t know, but it doesn’t really matter to me at the moment. Now to work on my other two, wooden boxes…

4 thoughts on “Painted Diary Box

  1. Love these Alexi. They remind me a little of the Australian Aboriginal art style. Beautiful!
    cheers Denise

    1. Thank you very much Denise! I really love Australian Aboriginal art so that pleases me :) x

  2. You are so talented Alexi – these boxes look amazing!

    1. Thank you very much Maggie! It’s great to do something a bit different and colourful :)

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