Clearing out Old Energy: Creating Something New from Something Old

I get attached to things -- not necessarily valuable material things (though sometimes they are), more often a beautiful bone or an old battered box that used to sit on my late grandmother's dresser is what catches my attention.

This January I've been inspired to finish organizing my Abuelita's (Grandmother's) family photos. I narrowed the pile down to about 500 photos that span about 100 years. It's been an ongoing project that I've dipped in and out of for several years. I took the junky old button boxes and battered jewelry boxes that were part of the pile and remade them with collages of my drawings, monoprints and images of my paintings. Here's a photo of my finished group of work. It also includes a pair of painted cowboy boots and some candy tins I made into mini-retablos for my house.

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