Saturday 29 May 2010

HAVE A COKE

I was particularly interested in the use of discarded coke cans, bottles and bottle tops, as so many of these items are thrown away each day! I managed to find some wonderful pieces.

Clifton Suspension Bridge out of coke cans by Stuart Murdoch

This dress is fantastic, I only wish I knew the name of the artist.

Big Ben out of coke cans by Robert Bradford

Big Ben out of coke cans by Robert Bradford

Coke Bottle Tops Fish Sculptures by John T. Unger

RECYCLING FACT:
An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now!

Thursday 27 May 2010

THINK BEFORE YOU THROW

A typical family consumes 26 gallons of bottled water, 182 gallons of canned drinks, 104 gallons of milk a year!
We can recycle these items (as we should), but if we think about it we could also make things out of them.
Before you throw away just think!
Have a look here at these people that have put these containers to good creative use.
I also am a HUGE fan of Elbow Grease Designs (two images above). Everything on her site has been designed and; hand sewn in the San Francisco Bay Area from discarded vinyl signs and banners. Originally printed for local trade shows, conventions, municipal or private advertising, these ENORMOUS banners would otherwise end up in the landfill. Jenny Say's "It is our goal to make beautiful and practical items out of what has been discarded".

Harriete Estel Berman Makes wonderful teacups, pots, jewellery, sculptues all out used food packaging. The cups above were constructed from recycled tin cans.
I love the look of this Fishing tackle by Tedd McDonanah. I actually think they would also make great keyrings!
I even love the above artwork created by Children out of food packaging.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

ALEXANDER KORZER-ROBINSON

I first saw Alexander Korzer-Robinson's work at the RWA, Bristol at the 'Celebration of Paper' exhibition and really loved what he had done.

Alexander Korzer-Robinson is an artist from Berlin now living in Bristol. He draws from a background in psychology. “my 
art practice focuses on the notion of the inner landscape. Using generally discarded 
materials, I make objects as an invitation to the viewer to engage her/his own inner life in 
order to assign meaning to the artwork”.

The cut book art has been made by working through the books, page by page, cutting around 
some of the illustrations while removing others. The images seen in the finished work, are 
left standing in the place where they would appear in the complete book. As a final step the 
book is sealed around the cut, and can no longer be opened.

Taken on my iphone

Tuesday 25 May 2010

SOCK MONKEY

When is a sock not a sock? When it's a Monkey!
Recycling ideas for your old (and hopefully clean) socks.

image above taken from Sock Money Dreams.

I have been fancinated by this craze for Sock Monkeys and have recently been sent sock monkey related items from various people (living all over the world). The victorians were making sock monkeys when the craze for imitation stuffed animals swept from Europe into North America & met the burgeoning Arts & Craft Movement.

image above taken from Sock Money Dreams.

Images from Gingerdead & Friends.

Image above taken from Monkey a Day.

How to make a Sock Monkey

Sock Monkey Wine Bottle Cover. Photo taken by my niece Lucie a store in Los Angeles, USA.

I just love these 'Spock Monkeys' from Craziest Gadgets

And last, but not least... A Hindu Goddess Sock Monkey!
Image taken from Visual Streak

Sunday 23 May 2010

THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT


"It's Like a Concert tour but with sketchbooks"




The lovely Gabrielle sent me this Sketchbook Project link the other day and it looks very interesting.


Each artist is sent the same blank Moleskine Cahier sketchbook. We've only got two rules: first, the book must be used in some way - no sending us back an empty book or a completely different book! Second, the sketchbook must stay within its original dimensions (because we don't want to have to provide an extra suitcase just for your book while we're touring the country).
Each book will be given a barcode so we can easily catalog it into The Brooklyn Art Library system. Once we catalog it, artists will be able to track where on the tour their book is viewed and how many times someone pulled it from the shelf - we want to make sure you can stay connected with your sketchbook! For more info click HERE.
For more information from the Art-House Co-op click HERE.

Friday 21 May 2010

ART FROM A NEW WORLD





I visited the Bristol Museum the other day to see their
'Art from the New World' exhibition.
I was interested in this artwork by Mike Stilkey painted onto books.
Here is what Mike says about his painting onto books:
"I hate drawing on anything that is white, like a piece of drawing paper or a canvas. It gives me anxiety because I feel like I’m going to ruin it. I became attracted to drawing on old or weathered paper because it’s not white. About five or six years ago, I made a book titled “One Hundred Portraits” which featured one hundred drawings I’d done on old book pages. Then I started painting on the book covers and all over the books, and eventually began stacking the books on each other and painting the spines. This allowed me to make bigger pieces."

Tuesday 18 May 2010

WHAT KATIE DID NEXT


Just came across What Katie did next blog and I love her use of old postage stamps she found in the jumble sale. These old postage stamp badges are lovely!