It's More Than a Box

     I adored my Granddaddy.  He was an interesting man, an excellent bird hunter and avid fisherman.  He owned a large tobacco farm that I have many fond memories of.  He also grew cotton. His sheds were filled  with a lot green  (as in John Deere Equipment).  I can remember the day the John Deere dealer brought a (new fangled) cotton picker for him to try out.  Up until then the cotton had been picked by hand. As I stood next to my Grandmama,  I watched as the new machine went up and down the rows "picking" the cotton. When it finished a few rows, the picker made its way back to where Granddaddy stood to show how much it had been able to pick in a short period of time. Granddaddy looked at the bin of cotton and then surveyed the field the picker had covered. He turned to the dealer and told him he was impressed with the machine but "look at all the cotton left in the field."  Being used to seeing the field picked clean, the random cotton that was left on the stalks was a waste of money to him  - money left of the table. But being a pragmatic and good businessman, he purchased the cotton picker.

     But the big crop on the farm was Tobacco.  I can still remember the sweet smell of the tobacco barns with the wooden poles of tobacco  leaves curing. I also remember more than one night someone knocking on the door to tell him a barn was on fire.  More often than not he had a lit cigar nearby. To this day, every time I smell cigar smoke, it brings back all these memories and many others. 

     One thing that Grandmama always had around the house was a good supply of empty cigar boxes. And as a little girl, there was no end to the uses  of these boxes - a container for crayons, a trunk for Barbie clothes, a box to hold those "special objects" we all collected as children. To this day, I still have an affinity for those boxes.  Now, I have been able to combine the love of these boxes with my art.  I take empty wooden cigar boxes and paint them.  The boxes come in various shapes and sizes. One could say I am re-purposing them into decorative containers for cards, jewelry, pens, etc. They also can be an attractive item for a shelf or table. I see it as preserving the memories of my past.  Whatever the reason, these boxes make excellent and unique gifts.   When you have a moment check out the boxes I have for sale on the website. Painted Cigar Boxes