About Cara Caravan

Atlanta Artist. Costume Designer. Fiber Sculptor.

The 1980 Atlanta Map Project

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Cara Caravan

It all started a few years ago when Atlanta City Hall East had a liquidation sale of items from their old nine-story building, former Sears, Roebuck & Co. Southern Regional Catalog Distribution Center on Ponce de Leon Avenue. This building is now known as Ponce City Market. To learn more about the history of this building, check out this Creative Loafing article:

http://clatl.com/atlanta/the-lost-world-of-city-hall-east/Content?oid=1431907

I was at the sale, rummaging through a large bin of old items….phone books, magazines, newspapers, etc…when I discovered three historic maps of the City of Atlanta.

I felt like Indiana Jones.

The first map is absolutely beautiful and I plan to build a frame for it soon. It has very bizarre measurements at 3.5 feet by 4 feet. The map dates it’s latest revision on January 1st, 1980. It also lists all of the Atlanta City Council (including James Bond!) as well as Mayor Maynard Jackson, Dick Layton as Commissioner to the Department of Budget and Planning, and Panke Bradley the Director of Bureau of Planning. It is a piece of Atlanta history.

The second map was a Historic Preservation 1979 Comprehensive Development Plan, credited by the City of Atlanta Bureau of Planning, The Department of Budget and Planning, and Mayor Maynard Jackson.

And the third map was a lot like the first, but it was torn in several places and badly damaged by water. SO I decided to cut it up into smaller squares that were all interesting individually.

I took each square and cast them in resin, which I poured into 1 inch and 1/2 inch square ice cube molds. The results were amazing.

I planed to transform the squares into individual magnets and sell them either online to through a local shop. Other magnets I have given as gifts to friends and family. I cut out squares of areas where my friends and family have lived and worked. I even found my very own house on the map. Dividing up the City of Atlanta to give away to my family and friends felt a little like playing God. Or a property manager.

I noticed that I could group certain squares to create patterns:

And some pieces are just beautiful by themselves:

I included my initials and birthday as a personal signature:

It took hours, but I eventually glued magnets to the backs of all of the pieces.

Want your very own piece of Atlanta? These pieces will be sold at my “Nerdy 30” Art Show/Birthday Party at the Doo Gallery on November 11th, 2015 from 6pm – 8pm. See you there!

Overall, the Atlanta Map project became very personal and meaningful. It allowed me to connect with friends and family by sharing pieces of this map with them. It also gave me a chance to look at my city from an aerial view, 35 years in the past. I learned that my very own street used to be called by a different name in 1980. It was so heartwarming to read hand written letters, as opposed to a digital pix-elated print. It was an interesting experience and I learned a lot about my city.

PBR Costume Art Comission: Skull Mask + Cape

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Cara Caravan

I have created several art projects for Pabst Blue Ribbon Art Contest. “Love at FIrst Burp” was entered in the 2D category for the 2010 contest. The painting is now featured in the 2010 gallery section on PBRart.com

I also entered a piece called “Beer Breath” for the 3D category of the 2010 contest. This sculpture won first place in the city of Atlanta, and was recognized at an event for the PBR Art Contest at an event located at The Graveyard in East Atlanta Village.

I entered the contest once again in 2012 and placed 4th in Atlanta overall, as well as winning “Most Surreal” for my painting titled: “PBOctopus”

In October of 2014, I connected with the Atlanta Marketing Representative for Pabst Blue Ribbon and asked to create a large skull and cape covered in PBR cans. The costume would be used in a photo shoot for the next year. So, I set out to collect PBR cans at my place of work, which happens to be a bar. This was an interesting process involving me: asking people to save their cans when finished, as well as digging through trash cans and dumpsters, all while trying to explain to everyone that I am an artist, not a homeless person.

Horror Artist Rene Arrigada was generous enough to donate an old “Captain Spalding” costume head that I could alter to my liking. (Unfortunately I accidentally deleted my photo of this.) The head was constructed from chicken wire and paper mache, so I removed the eyes, and sawed off the ears, lower jaw, and cheeks with a power tool. I removed any stray pieces, added horns and wire for the teeth foundation, and covered the skull with aluminum foil duck tape.

Next was the painful (literally) process of washing and cutting up the cans. I removed the top and bottom of each can to created flat rectangles, which I then cut into triangles. Next, I layered and glued the triangles onto the skull, and also placed thin strips of foil tape over the sharp edges around each triangle.

Next, I painted the teeth and horns with a light shade of blue, and also added dark blue pop-tops and wire to give the teeth “braces.” I also placed a dark blue, see-through fabric over the eye holes.

And just to be silly, I added a navy blue tassel to create a “rat tail” hairstyle 🙂

I sewed a Pabst Blue Ribbon cape to complete the costume. I selected a very soft and velvety blue fabric, cut and sewed the edges, and painted a PBR logo on the back.

The front of the cape attaches together with a small loop the goes around a PBR bottle cap.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Hello World! :D

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Cara Caravan

I am an Atlanta artist of many mediums, and I have won several awards for my costumes and art. This blog will document the progress on my latest art projects, costumes, and events. Please feel free to contact me about custom art, props, and costume design ❤