Nellie"s Needles

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Art Made From Repurposed Materials

Art crafted from objects that were once functional in everyday life appeal to my husband and me. Those with a quirkiness and sense of humor are most appealing. A couple of summers ago we found this whimsical character, "Kramer", in a gallery at Grand Lake, Colorado.
This past summer we purchased another piece by the same artist. The oven thermometer says "kitchen art" to us.
Definite art for the kitchen are these two made with measuring cups as their foundation.
I wish my husband would take this neon lighted message seriously more often.This fanciful creature watches over all from the ceiling.

So, what would you call that blue bowling pin?
The "King" pin, of course.

The whole Durand family, members aged 2 to 74, was involved in the creation of this structure during our family reunion a few years ago.
The blue part with the pink bird is the bottom of the drawer that was filled with all those turned pieces I had found for $5 at a garage sale. The "arms" are a pair of wooden salad tongs.

And then there are the brooches I made for my friends out of watch parts.
You won't believe what this artist is creating with nails.
Would you believe this is it?
Note the scale of this piece. There are two people standing at bottom.

This elegant doll from Thailand is made with coins.
One of our favorite art pieces is created by Paula who makes art from salvaged and scavenged materials . The rusted metal part is a railroad plate and the wrapping is cotton string.
Harmony - 6"x 11"

Our older son purchased this clock from Paula. It, too, features one of those railroad plates.
That's Paula of the Self Taught Artist blog. She is presently on a life-changing adventure and making art with a whole bunch of new materials. Click the link above to go to her blog to check out the bone and scrap wood candle tables she recently completed.

4 comments:

verobirdie said...

What a pleasant way to start my day! The first pictures especially made me laugh, but all pieces shown are great.

paula said...

morning nellie! what a fun way to wake up, finding MORE inspiration andseeing some of my art here!
i've seen some of this out there on the net but not all and for sure am off to view more. fun post and your 'collection' is truly unique and FUN!

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Wonderful and fun photos! I love this type of art and really want to try making some pieces at some point. Just one more thing on my 'to do' list!

Tonya Ricucci said...

great stuff. I love that oven thermometer character!