I've been volunteering at my local art recycle shop (Who Gives a SCRAP) for almost a year. During that time I've become more interested in transforming materials destined for the landfill into art. All sorts of items show up in the shop, including traditional crafting materials like yarn, beads, and scrapbooking paper and non-traditional ones like leftover bathroom tile, bottle caps, and crepe paper streamers for parties.
Upcycled Jewelry (Mostly)
Recycled and upcycled art isn't new to me, but I've mainly used those materials for jewelry. For example, over the years I've made:
- an earring set using playing jacks
- a red and black necklace (Cycling Round) using rubber washers, bicycle chain, and springs
- a domino pin
- button earrings
- hinge earrings
- light bulb earrings and light bulb necklace
I haven't done much with larger pieces (I find them intimidating), so when I saw the call for submissions to an upcoming upcycled art show, I challenged myself to apply. (This "Say It With Beer" bottle cap bouquet wall art from 2013 and my altered Adventure book from 2015 are two larger projects I've made in the past.) Of course, coming from the jewelry world, when I say "larger pieces" I mean 8 by 10 inches, not 8 by 10 feet!
My New Mixed Media Upcycled Art Work
Some of the components I used in my current art pieces included:
- soda cans
- watch gears
- hotel key cards
- used spiral-bound notebook
- window screen
- steel coil
- discarded library books
- sari silk ribbon
- scraps of wood and metal
- wood chopstick
- wine cork
- game pieces
- dollhouse parts
- cable wire
I ended up with five pieces that will be displayed in the exhibit. All are wall pieces framed with thrift store frames, some of which I painted and/or repaired.
Here's a behind-the-scenes look at one of them:
An Invitation
My work often includes layers, a mix of soft and hard textures, beads, and/or words. I like to use humor or incorporate hidden meanings. This wall art piece ("An Invitation") is a great example, including softer layers of sari silk ribbon, thread, and book cloth with harder layers of copper and wood. It also includes seed beads and book pages. I ended up writing a poem with words and phrases cut from a discarded library book:
an invitation
In the hot, humid summers
the glint of gold
and moss green
sheltering against the wind
in the shadows
quietly listening
This seems pretty straightforward, doesn't it? Soothing words to go with a bright, pretty flower?
Ahem.
I did mention that I like hidden meanings and surprises, didn't I?
The words are from a dark suspense book. I'm talking the "I can't possible read a chapter of this book and drift blissfully off to sleep" type of book. I paged through it and cut out happy—or at least neutral—words and phrases to use for the poem. It surprised me that it was pretty easy to find them. I like the idea that even in places of darkness and fear, there's a lot of light.
You're Invited
The Waste Not, Want Not upcycled art show at the Commonwheel Artist Co-op in Manitou Springs, Colorado runs October 4-28, 2019. Learn about the 13 participating artists on the gallery blog.