Welcome to the website of the Little Box Gallery
At the Little Box Gallery we decorate one of a kind, wood and papier mache boxes. All designs are originals, all boxes are individually hand painted and finished. Our inspiration comes from many sources and many places, beginning with our own paintings and sketches. From our initial box painting over 30 years ago, which featured art paintings on boxes, (see below) we are discovering that working with boxes creates its own momentum and we now have many different images and decoration. There are now 'Little Boxes' in homes in Canada, across the United States and in Europe. The boxes can be used as gifts themselves or as gift boxes filled with candy, jewelry gift cards or cash (often for Showers, Weddings or Graduations).
Making Little Boxes - the new way
- The boxes that have become our 'canvas' can start life as plain new wood or papier mache, or as a recovered/recycled box.
- As with a full size painting, each design is sketched and painted individually. We continue to paint landscapes and have added decorative and embellished boxes. Our ideas for decoration originate with sketches, personal photographs, postcards, publications and other images. Painting is done free hand in acrylic. We rarely use stencils, stamps or patterns. This means no two boxes are ever identical even if images or paint colors might be similar.
- Prices vary according to the cost of materials, the size of the box, together with some consideration of the labor involved. Boxes will receive preparation, under-painting, actual painting and varnishing. Boxes can have lid images, inside lid images and images on the sides. They can take several days to complete. Prices start as low as $10 for simple papier mache boxes and as high as $250 for an original art box.
Who are the Little Box creators?
- Having painted full sized canvases for many years, my husband, Roy, experimented with other surfaces. He made and painted a number of wooden boxes. At that time making them himself was the only way to create them - and he painted on the lid- inside and out, the inside bottom of box, and sometimes the front edge. I began painting boxes as a hobby in early 2009.
- Since 2010 we have been involved in the St. Louis fine art and fine craft circuit, developing and selling our boxes.
Interested in buying a box?
If you would like to purchase a box outside of my in-person shows, please email- [email protected]
Best wishes Lindsey St. John
Best wishes Lindsey St. John