A mixed media assemblage of found objects. I have been wanting to do a "recycled garden" for a long time. I have a nice pile of collected things.. been saving odd bits and pieces for years. Yes, it piles up. Yes, I should clear it out. But being an artist who loves to repurpose it just is hard to get rid of the treasures. In my dreams, I would love to spend a week sorting and categorizing everything. Then store in clear containers clearly labeled. But then I wouldn't always experience the serendipitous discovery of reaching for an element (not knowing what I was looking for) and ta-da there it is.
Perfect!
This is done on a cradle board. I painted the background then started compiling the flowers. I have a lot of the old molds that I have collected from thrift shops and garage sales. I hammered these flat, snipping some
to allow the bowl shape to spread out... which added a petal look. Old spoons were hammered as well and I had a nice stash of red bottle caps to pop a little color on the spoon flowers. An old zipper, an old
electric cloth covered cord, some carpenter's rulers and wire created the stems. I decided I needed some dimension at the base of the flowers and found an old purse at the thrift shop that was green with printed
xoxo's and hearts. So I cut out strips and nailed them to the board creating the depth I was looking for.
The one flower with the red bullseye is special to me. And it does stand out prominently. The red disk was something I found in my husband's garage trash.. he had cut it out of metal. The center white is a big old washer from my dad's stash that I gleaned from his garage after he passed away. He was a tinker and had boxes of goodies that I have been rationing into my art. The blue and yellow pieces of tin are from a windmill that Dad had made. He made several of these. When I got them, the little motors no longer worked, but I knew I would find a use of the propellers someday. The leaves on this flower are old screen
from some old screen door with lovely old paint and rust. So after I was done with this piece, I decided to
call it Charlie's Garden.. for my Dad. He loved to garden after he retired.
I have a show coming up in a few week with some very fun talented ladies: Whimsical Women of the West. It's our Spring Show..and I need to pump out as much fun art as I can.
wish me luck..
I need TIME to create. And that is not always an abundant commodity for me!!!!!
