Unidentified art objects

June 2, 2006 8:26 PM

I have a few pieces of artwork that I can't seem to find any information about. Can you help? I found these pieces at the Citywide garage sale here in Austin last year. Each piece is a asian/chinese theme, and is composed of tiny stones glued onto a canvas. I haven't been able to find any information about these on the web. Embedded pics on the flip

Here are the pics:









The black lines are pieces of string. I love these and would like more of the same type, but have no idea where to find them. Thanks in advance!

posted by Cycloptichorn to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

I remember seeing these when I was a kid. They were DIY kits consisting of fabric printed with the design, some black cord, and bottles of colored glass or plastic chips. You'd glue the cord over the lines on the fabric and glue the colored stuff inside the lines. I don't remember what the kits were called, but they were fairly common in the 1960s and maybe earlier (they have a 1950s vibe about them, I feel.)

Sorry I can't provide any key words for online searching, but garage sales might be your best bet anyway. Or thrift stores, or eBay - places where vintage stuff turns up.
posted by Quietgal at 8:32 PM on June 2, 2006

Mosaics?
posted by tracicle at 8:39 PM on June 2, 2006

Wow, those are fabulous. Let us know if you turn anything up!
posted by muddgirl at 9:15 PM on June 2, 2006

Best answer: I think these were called "Gravel Art" and people bought kits to make them in the 1950s. You can find a bit of it here on ebay, or there are some simple kits here, but they aren't as cool. Or just search for "gravel art kits" on google and you'll find plenty.
posted by foxinthesnow at 9:22 PM on June 2, 2006

do an ebay search for "gravel art." ignore my link up there. i'm not sure what i did.
posted by foxinthesnow at 9:28 PM on June 2, 2006

Response by poster: Foxinthesnow, you rule.

Your links lead me to this article from HGTV, on making the art yourself:

http://tinyurl.com/k4blm

Here's another one that I own:





After looking at a lot of examples online, I believe I own the finest pieces of Gravel art in existence; wonderful complexity!

Thanks to everyone who answered! Now if I can figure out how to clean up the small stains on them...
posted by Cycloptichorn at 9:59 PM on June 2, 2006

Those rock, I love the 50's vibe.
posted by parallax7d at 3:51 PM on June 3, 2006

Those are quite cool and I'm not any help except to say they're in a Japanese style rather than Chinese.
posted by deborah at 11:26 PM on June 3, 2006