Upcycle for Earth Day...

 

The Brick City Center for the Arts in Ocala, Florida, is hosting the exhibit "Upcycled: Turning Waste into Wonder" for the month of April. Nearly 50 local artists have pieces on display. Each piece is required to contain at least 50% recycled materials. There are lots  of quirky and fun items on display, including two of mine, shown in this post below. 

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I was very taken by "Wire Horse" crafted by Elisa Prescott. Ocala is known as Horse Country, so this sculpture made from a rusty crib mattress really represents the area. The skill and finesse it took to mold this metal into shape in quite impressive.

This is my upcycled fiber bead necklace "Nothing But Scraps" made from recycled plastic drinking straws and denim scraps. I showed it along with some made by students in a class I taught on making the beads in my last post here. 

"Hearts at Home" is my other piece in the exhibit is this shabby-chic heart ornament stitched and stuffed using fabric leftovers from a local interior design firm. They would have gone to the landfill, but I got a big bag of some very beautiful fabric pieces from them. The embellishments are also recycled and include a "spray" of orange plastic produce bag and a hanger from sari silk, which is itself a reclaimed textile. I've been making several of these because the fabrics are so pretty.

Darian Mosely made the nicely textured "REforestation" with corrugated cardboard and stones.

There were other fiber pieces as well that made use of small bits of fabric. Liz Chojnacki stitched "A Whale of a Time" (11" x 14"). Lots of other interesting throw-away materials made an appearance as well. There was a full size mannequin covered with decoupage images and with a globe for a head! Very imaginative entries. All of the items needed to be for sale, and I'm happy that the necklace sold in the first week. It was so much fun that I hope the Marion Cultural Alliance will issue this art call again in the future. 

Accessorize!

Fashion designer Michael Kors offers his take on accessories like necklaces: "I always thought of accessories as the exclamation point of a woman's outfit." I took that advice to heart when making these unique textile necklaces. Fiber beads are just too much fun! I posted here about some necklaces I made last fall using denim scraps and recycled plastic drinking straws. The idea took off and I was invited to teach the bead making at a local guild's Quilter's Day Camp in February. I had several sample necklaces made by then, and this is one. It's made using African fabric scraps, recycled straws, and a piece from broken jewelry as the pendant. This type of bead is one of the three styles I taught in the class.

The denim beads were another style. Shortly after the class I saw a "call for art" for a gallery exhibit at Brick City Center for the Arts. The art call was for an exhibit titled "Upcycled: Turning Waste Into Wonder." According to the rules, any type of art would be considered and each piece needed to be made from 50% recycled materials. My necklaces fit the bill, so I entered this one and it was juried into the show. The exhibit is scheduled to open later this week, so I'll keep you posted about the other upcycled items shown. It should be interesting.

 Here's a close-up of the pendant and the denim beads. The pendant is a discarded earring and the beads are denim strips from worn jeans wrapped around a length of plastic straw. A few craft store accent beads complete the necklace, so it's definitely more than half recycled items.

Here are some of the necklaces made by the students who took the Day Camp class. Students traveled in some wonderful creative directions, making jewelry that expressed their personalities and interests. Terri combined two styles of beads and used some lace and yarn to embellish her beads in this piece. And the focal pendant works beautifully in it.

A University of Florida Gator fan, Lynn used the university's blue and orange colors and added a gator charm!

Peggy used yarn, glitter glue, and embroidery floss to add color accents to her necklace.

 The cute owl pendant inspired Naomi's earth tone bead choices. 

Carla brought a dichroic glass pendant and some metal beads with her supplies. She was able to combine them with her fiber beads for an elegant necklace.

And she couldn't stop at one- Carla also made this silver and denim cross necklace. She embellished her denim beads with floss and silver metallic thread. Lovely! Once we showed off these creations at the guild meeting, lots of other members wanted to learn to make the beads, too. So another class is in the works. I'll have more to show you after that I'm sure! And I can't stop making them, so there will be plenty to see.