THE FRAMAREE BOX STORY
Framaree Box
Pictures
You
have probably been asking yourself, "Where did they get the name FRAMAREE?"
Our web address is taken from the title of a roombox, or diorama, that I began in
1994 and finished in 1995. It depicts a frame shop and it is in dollhouse
scale (1 inch = 1 foot). The box is 15 1/2 inches wide. During the nearly two years of the creation process I
made almost everything inside, including Maree, the framer, and Hannah Brown,
her customer.
The
FRAMAREE is one of a series of boxes based on an "alternative universe" where
cats lead the lives that humans live in our universe. You'll notice that
in their universe cats wear certain articles of clothing. Cats don't
need to wear clothing. They have fur. They are always warm and
"decent." My cats don apparel when the mood strikes them to enhance their
"look." They seem to favor scarves and vests and jewelry.
In the
FRAMAREE almost all of the artwork on the walls is feline. Amongst the
famous reproductions (such as the CATS poster) are tiny original
works of art by area artists. This artwork includes drawings by Sandra
Anderson, Tana Christianson, Mark Freeland, Julie Lewitzky, David Manny and Kim Wilson;
collages by Beverly Goldsman; counted cross-stitch by Trish Dudek;
calligraphy by Doug Brandt, Jr.; and the only non-cat artwork, an
acrylic landscape by Rena Reisman.
Some of the items in the box
are purchased. These include the pencil sharpener, the vise, the rotary drill,
the telephone, and the brass frames. Most of the rest I created with wood,
plastic, polyform clay and cardboard. It took me two weeks to make all of
the frame corners and several days to carve the pencils and pens and brushes out
of toothpicks. Don't even ask how long it took to make that pegboard
display, but I poked hundreds of holes just to make the pegboard!
I
highly recommend miniature work for anyone dealing with stress. To have
complete control over even as little as one square foot of space is very
therapeutic!
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