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inquire about Custom portraits and designs on a My Paper Bag Co. bag and customized WALL COVERINGS Below, I've grouped the bags by theme beginning with the simplest Plain White Paper Bag and ending with a more complex creature that I call Birdy Approved (a work inspired by my little feathered friend Lani, an Indian Ring Neck parakeet, watched over the fabrication of this one).
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THE DEFINITION: The Meaning
MY PAPER BAG COMPANY is an extension of work titled A DIFFERENT PLANE a selection of paintings that were featured on my site about a year ago made from the same material that I'm using for my current and ongoing recycling tote bag project.
A Different Plane is the result of an interest using different painting surfaces; using the uneveness as a point of inspiration- a necessary challenge in creating a visually stimulating experience. My Paper Bag Co. is taking it one step further fusing art and function. I realized that creating My Paper Bag Co. was a natural and obvious direction for me to head in.
With recycling efforts being pushed nationwide, My Paper Bag Co. as a mission was born. We are so accustomed to throwing away the things that we cannot find an end-use for and things such as strips of acid-free paper mounted to canvas are no different and easy to discard; I thought this was a great avenue to explore and use as a platform to get connected artistically with a greater audience by introducing a new material that is strong and interesting to work with.
A little about the new motif for my website in general...
WARP AND WOOF is loosly defined as the structure on which something is built. The intersection of this structure is the inspiration used in my company's motif, The totes I'm creating are made from strips of canvas-backed paper of varying widths and lengths, thus creating bags unique in size and pattern. I use the strips as I find them. Opting not to make the strips uniform in size, enables me to focus more on the chance designs that come from varied surfaces. The bags are unique; no two bags will ever be the same-- even if I paint the same image, the underlying structure is different. Even on the same bag, a single image that is on both sides changes slightly.
Photos of Bags in Action: on the Go / PHOTO SHOOTS
Those who begin to understand, soon realize that they have something very special in their grasp; this is something, I trust, you will discover on your own.
For too long I've neglected to bring your attention to the heart of the project and, instead, have taken a purely technical approach to explaining what I have to offer. But in hind sight, I feel that's a mistake. With this kind of idea that embraces these numerous areas with hopes of blending them harmoniously: community, beauty, function, newness, textures, forms, color, patterns, etc... I can no longer contain my enthusiasm. I can no longer sit back and just write descriptions about what I've produced. As with any project that I've poured myself into, one cannot fully appreciate the work without understanding the process from beginning to end, (...and this applies to everything that you see on my site) because it's more than just stitching piecs of material together and slapping some paint on it; each bag that I create, is not unique just because of slight variations in size and shape and art work that's applied, but unique because each one truly has it's own spirit-- and THAT'S what makes this project so special. My bags don't roll off of a conveyor belt, or are a part of an assembly line with 10, 20, 30... pairs of hands handling the piece. There is only one pair of hands, and those are mine.
It begins with a word or phrase, and from there a vague idea in my mind's eye begins to develop. It's a little blurry at first, but slowly begins to come into focus. Sometimes I only see one color; other times I see several colors and forms... What size is this form best presented? What textures and fabrics compliment these colors?
Fabrics are chosen that work best with the idea based on how they feel to the touch and color; I'll search for the right belt sometimes finding a really nice vintage leather strap that I fee rounds out the project nicely.
I sit at my machines; one for light duty, the other for bringing these layers together. Surprisingly, this is really tough material; I've gone through countless needles and wore out the motor of one of my machine's. I had never used a sewing machine until I began working on My Paper Bag Company. Little by little, I learn new and better approaches for putting each bag together.
Alas, I get to apply the design-- the finishing touch and an avalanche of questions ensues. Do I create a stencil for this one? A stamp? Freehand? Do I combine techniques? I usually opt to combine freehand with something else and keep working till I'm fully satisfied with the result. To some this may seem a bit pretentious, but the truth is, I'm nothing more than a proud mamma; I love this project!! and I want to share it. My aim is to continue with this project for as long as I can and get theses bags out into the public's hands every which possible way that I can... I want people to make these bags there very own. Use them; wear them out; make one of my bags your favorite bag in the whole world like an old pair of jeans or sneakers or T-shirt; after so much time, it's one of the most difficult items in your wardrobe to part with. That's what my aim for My Paper Bag Company is... and in the realm of creativity, to be fruitful and multiply...
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Unless specified or another method of shipping is requested, items will be shipped via UPS Ground for domestic orders-- signature required; UPS Expedited for International.
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view PHOTO SHOOTS
GROUP 1: Solids
Foundation
GROUP 2: Black and Whites, Blues and Whites and Silhouettes
White Squares with Black Outline
GROUP 3: Stamped, Stenciled and Freehand Designs
Blue Floral
GROUP 4: My Paper Bag Sculptures / Additional Textures
Birdy Approved- thin clutch
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Unless specified or another method of shipping is requested, items will be shipped via UPS Ground for domestic orders-- signature required; UPS Expedited for International.
I am happy to COMBINE SHIPPING COSTS on multiple items that can ship together.
Rates for shipping will be determined by weight and destination of order.
Copyright © 2002-2011 Milagros Melendez. All rights reserved.
