"1000 Ideas For Creative Reuse"

In my family, Tuesdays are library days. With lots of room, thanks to the stroller up-grade, I can now check out books for myself, along with the board books and Charlie & Lola dvds. This last Tuesday I selected a book called "1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse" by Garth Johnson. 

 What a wonderful discovery from the library. This thing is packed with page after page of inspiration. So many artists and craftsmen are featured. And the entire things is broken down into organized sections. Did I mention how lovely the photography is too? 

I'm always on the look out for new ideas of things to collect, or ideas for my existing collections. "1000 Ideas For Creative Reuse" sparked the collector in me, introduced me to some artists I hadn't yet heard of and brought a big smile to my face. I'd like to share.

Elizabeth Morisette: 
Elizabeth Morisette created a series of vessels using unusual objects. I love the zippers seen here. As a sculptor Morisette is challenging our idea of traditional sculptural materials and continues to make pieces with everyday items. She has a blog where she updates and informs about her upcoming shows. 

Margaux Lange:
Margaux Lang is making one of a kind jewelery pieces using Barbie parts. I've seen her work before on the Etsy open page. It was great to see her again in "1000 Ideas For Creative Reuse." Her pieces are so well done. I love the humor/tongue-in-cheek aspect. Lange has a beautiful Website with many, many pieces available. Midge's Mind is her adorable blog. If you are interested in any of her pieces you can find them on her Etsy page.

Jarod Charzewski:
Jarod Charzewski's exhibition "Scarp" at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in South Carolina speaks mountains of our consumer based culture, our desire to acquire, and how these themes affect our global landscape. I find all of that fascinating, but what really drew me to this piece was the colors. And Charzewiski's ability to collect a vast amount of the same thing, in this case clothing, to re-arrange it into something different and beautiful. I can only imagine what went into gathering 5000 pieces of clothing, transporting, storing and setting up. I bet Scarp is amazing in person! On Charewski's website you can see what he has been up to lately.

....Kinda makes you want to do something with those collections, huh?

If you don't get all your ducks in a row...

As a child my most prized possession, the toy my mom had to take away from me to get me to go to bed was not something that could be bought in a store. It was simple, and thoughtful and unique. I don't think my mom ever intended it to be my plaything, let alone my favorite toy. She used to clip coupons from the Sunday paper. Every so often there would be an add for pants you could send away for. Attached to these 5 x 7 advertisements was a small fabric sample. I don't know why, but my mom saved every one of these. She would unstaple them from their information card, and tuck them away in an old wooden tea box. I don't remember exactly when I discovered her collection. I do, however, remember hours and hours and hours of quite time with the samples. I would empty the box onto the carpet, feeling the texture of each tiny fabric square. Then I would line them up, darkest to lightest, softest to stiffest, smoothest to bumpiest and so on and so on. 

This tumblr Things Organized Neatly reminds me of those happy pants sample moments. Each photo of collections lined up gives me that same calm feeling I'd get from organizing my teeny fabric squares. That must be what it feels like when "all your ducks are in a row." 

Things Organized Neatly