What Are You Going To Do With THAT?

The "that" in question (this time) is a giant, green Styrofoam ball that stands two feet tall. I bought it for $7.50 when Cathy and I went to a liquidation sale at a local display company. I don't really know if $7.50 is a good price to pay for a giant, green Styrofoam ball, but I do know that I've never seen one before, and may never see another one again. When I took the ball to the checkout table so that I could continue shopping, I asked the saleslady to make sure that she didn't let anyone else buy it. She replied, "Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that!" Who wouldn't want a giant, green Styrofoam ball? I think it's just crying out to be covered in something, but I'm not sure what. Buttons? Beads? Mosaic? Pennies? Postage Stamps? Collage? Any suggestions or ideas? What would you do with a giant, green Styrofoam ball? For now, it will just keep rolling around in my dining room until I decide what kind of art it will become.

Photos of Class Projects

These are the photos that Terry took on the last day of class.

This is my project inspired by the wood sculptures of Louise Nevelson. I'm slightly obsessed with circles and they appear often in my artwork.

A closer view.

This is my version of a Robert Rauschenberg "combine" painting. I was happy to be able to use a few of my favorite street finds in this piece. The metal signs with numbers were used to mark outdoor parking spaces downtown--until they rusted and blew off the wires where they were suspended. I found the big hunk 'o rust in a rest area parking lot during my fall trip to West Virginia.



Finally, my project inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell. I bought the frame at my neighbor's garage sale about 10 years ago. I love the weathered wood and the metal pieces that join the sides together. I originally intended to use the paper tags to label the keys that were going to be the basis of the piece. Instead, the tags became the focus and the keys are now a future project.

Art Journaling Magazine

It's here, it's here! I just received a contributor copy of the premier issue of Art Journaling magazine which will debut on January 1st. Wow! This is going to be a real treat when I finally sit down to read the articles and savor each and every gorgeous photograph. I'm thrilled to have a couple of pages from Rejectamenta featured in this beautiful new publication from Stampington.

And....what a lovely surprise to discover that Cathy's artwork is also featured! It was our hope when we sent in our submissions to be in the magazine together. It looks like dreams really do come true.

Rejectamenta Journal

Here are a couple of pages from my Rejectamenta journal. This journal was created as a tribute to the flotsam and jetsam of society that I find quirky, crude, and appealing. It is comprised entirely of rejectamenta attached to acrylic-painted pages. In keeping with the concept of found art, I chose to use found words in the form of quotes, to illustrate that one person’s trash is indeed another person’s treasure.



I found the metal piece on the cover while walking on the beach about 20 years ago. I'm not sure what it is, but I've always loved that thing. This seemed like a good place to finally use it.





I live by this quote. The journal was hard to photograph since it's crammed with all kinds of strange and weird found objects. I'll post more pictures after I photograph some more pages.

Last Class

Yesterday was our last class for Found Object Art. We brought in all three of our finished projects, critiqued the last two projects, and Terry photographed everything for us. I’ll post the pictures as soon as I receive them.

In the meantime, I can say that I’m pretty impressed with what we created and with how different and individual all the projects turned out. It was amazing to see the final results and talk about how the projects evolved from our initial ideas. I had planned to use my large collection of keys in my Joseph Cornell project—and ended up not using a single one. I guess that’s part of the excitement and fun of creating art; you’re never really sure just where it’s going to take you.

For me, the structure of a class definitely keeps me more focused and productive than I am on my own. And Terry’s input was invaluable in helping me to think on a higher artistic level. I also have a brand new appreciation for Nevelson, Rauschenberg, Cornell and all artists who create with found objects. The class was well worth the investment of time, money, and effort and I hope to take more classes in the future.

I really wanted to share more of the class and the artistic process in this blog, but it was difficult balancing that with the rest of my life. Blogging hasn’t become an integral part of my life just yet. I’ll have to keep working at that.

Thanks Cathy for taking the class with me! Everything is more fun with a friend by your side.

I Love Rust

I don't know why rust fascinates me so much, but whenever I see something rusted and decrepit, my heart soars. Recently, I spent a weekend in Beckley, West Virginia with two of my dearest friends. West Virginia is beautiful in October--autumn leaves, waterfalls, scenic overlooks, rustic cabins, and countless wonders of nature. I wish I could have captured a little bit of the beauty on film, but the sad truth is that I'm a lousy photographer. (I need to work on that.) Of all the photos I attempted to take, here are a couple of my favorites.

Time Flies When You're Having Too Much Fun

We're more than halfway into Found Object Art class and we're now working on our Rauschenberg "combine" project. Bob helped me mount a 20 x 24 canvas board onto strips of wood to give it more substance and depth. During class we worked on choosing text and objects for the piece and started painting. Today I added a few more layers of paint and I also painted the wood sides. I'm using a series of numbers and letters as text and a couple of small metal signs, a chunk of rust, and a round, red reflector as objects. At least, that's what I have planned. I've noticed that ideas and plans often change during class after getting Terry's input. He definitely gets us thinking beyond the ordinary.

Last week we displayed our finished Nevelson projects and they really turned out well. On the last day of class we're going to bring in all three projects and Terry is going to photograph them for us. Yay! I'm sure he'll do a much better job than I could, and hopefully I'll have some nice photos to post of the finished projects.

I finished everything on my list of things to do today, so now I can go into the studio and play! We turn the clocks back tonight for daylight savings time so that means I get an extra hour of studio time.

Found Object Art

We had our first class, and it turns out there are three of us in the class. We spent the first half of class discussing the artists whose work we will attempt to mimic: Louise Nevelson, Robert Rauschenberg, and Joseph Cornell. Our instructor, Terry, brought books about the artists and explained how each used found objects in their work. For the Nevelson project, we will create a shallow relief sculpture within a box that involves pattern, repetition, uniformity, and a monochromatic color scheme. We spread out the found objects that we brought and started to figure out which ones to use. As Terry went around and looked at the found objects, he had a lot of ideas and suggestions about what could be used for each of the projects.

By the next class we should have the box and all of the objects painted with 2-3 coats of paint. Then we'll arrange the pieces and glue them in place with liquid nails. Cathy took the white paint home and gave me a container over the weekend. I have the box and about 75% of my objects painted. Today I played around with how to put it all together and it's not as easy as it seems. I thought I had it pretty well figured out until everything toppled over. I think it's time to start gluing.

Ready, Set, Blog

"Come to the edge, He said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, He said. They came, He pushed them, and they flew..."
--Guillaume Apollinaire

Welcome to lost and found. This is where I will share my adventures as a mixed media artist working primarily with found objects, rejectamenta, and recycled materials. Tomorrow is the first day of the "Found Object Art" class that my friend, Cathy, and I are taking at the Cleveland Institute of Art. We found out that we're the only two people who signed up for the class! According to the syllabus, our first project will be inspired by the sculpture of Louise Nevelson. I found a book of her art at the library and I'm really excited to get started. I just finished packing my bag of found objects and art supplies, so I'm ready to go.