The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
My friend Asia is a multifaceted lady. She's a model, an artist, a mom, and a military spouse. Being a military spouse, she is no stranger to sudden separations from her husband for unpredictable amounts of time. Her favorite book, understandably, is the Time Traveler's Wife. It is a very moving account of an unusual relationship between two people. One, Clare, travels a normal course through time. The other, Henry, has fits of time travel due to a genetic disorder. He has no control over the travel, and it is very perilous.
Because this box was to be for Asia, I wanted to focus on Clare's experience. The quote seemed to choose itself. I knew I wanted to incorporate birds into the box, as they are a recurring theme for Clare. I also wanted to convey the sense of connection the two characters have throughout the book despite geographic, temporal, and, sometimes, communication distances.
My friend Asia is a multifaceted lady. She's a model, an artist, a mom, and a military spouse. Being a military spouse, she is no stranger to sudden separations from her husband for unpredictable amounts of time. Her favorite book, understandably, is the Time Traveler's Wife. It is a very moving account of an unusual relationship between two people. One, Clare, travels a normal course through time. The other, Henry, has fits of time travel due to a genetic disorder. He has no control over the travel, and it is very perilous.
Because this box was to be for Asia, I wanted to focus on Clare's experience. The quote seemed to choose itself. I knew I wanted to incorporate birds into the box, as they are a recurring theme for Clare. I also wanted to convey the sense of connection the two characters have throughout the book despite geographic, temporal, and, sometimes, communication distances.
My initial idea was to use red map pins, representative of Henry and Clare, and stretch a rubber band between them, thus creating a very physical representation of their bond. The time travel would be represented by stretching the rubber band between black map pins at random points. Good idea right? Ahh...the best laid plans....
I test painted a wooden heart to figure out the color scheme. I wanted to keep the palette close to the one on the predominant book cover - a sea foam blue/green. However, I know that Asia's decor leans more to the Goth side with red, grays, and black. I decided to play down the blue with silver in the hopes that it would tie in with the gray well. I also cut out a stencil to use when applying the silver. I figured an hour glass was appropriate.
I laid in the bottom text background consisting of the years in which Henry time travels.
Using my antique white paint and sea sponge, I muted the dates, and afterward I applied the quote on top using Mod Podge.
Holy cow. That is BLUE.
I won't lie.
A bit of panic was creeping up on me regarding the color.
Several layers of gray, blue, and metallic blue later, I was much more satisfied with the look.
Over the final finish, I applied the silver using the stencils and silver paint. I lightly went over some areas left untouched because of the stencil to tone down the blue even more.
After gluing in the map pins, I mixed up and poured the first layer of resin. The plans was to let one layer set, and then put in the rubber band and birds followed by another layer of resin to keep everything in place.
Alas. The rubber band proved too strong and pulled the map pins out of their resting spaces despite industrial glue and one layer of resin holding them in place. Talk about a strong bond!
In addition to thwarting my composition plans, the rubber band left a transfer of ink. The line was actually quite delicate, and, once I threw my initial tantrum, I liked it.
In addition to thwarting my composition plans, the rubber band left a transfer of ink. The line was actually quite delicate, and, once I threw my initial tantrum, I liked it.
Here is an illustration of what was supposed to happen:
After playing a bit with string, I decided to reinforce the line with a stronger one of glass stain.
Last, but not least, the title.
First in silver
Followed by metallic blue
And there it is!
Things to remember:
Things to remember:
- Rubber bands are really strong
- Don't worry. Keep painting.
