↓ The Art ↓
“The Arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow...”
The Idea
Refurbish. Repurpose. Re-Appreciate.
The world has become such a crowded place. We consume, we buy, we amass so much stuff and when we get bored of it, we buy more. In the 'old' days, it seems everything was made with much more quality, detail and craftsmanship. So many products today are plastic and disposable (not to mention toxic to our environment).
I love that I can find a vintage piece that may be well over a hundred years old and it will still be sturdy, cohesive and beautiful. My art focuses on any kind of vintage treasure that piques my interest and needs a little TLC. I will sit with a piece until it speaks to my imagination and tells me how it might live again. I come alive at the prospect of bringing new life into a forgotten relic that has been discarded. The idea that a vintage form only needs be seen from a different angle to be appreciated in a new light is where I find my inspiration.
What is Unique
Each of the wounded treasures I find are survivors. So many of their brethren have been abandoned as beyond saving and left behind to decompose in a barren yard. The few I come across that still have life in them, I take in and set to work.
It goes without saying that each piece is already rare in its "antique-ness," but there will never be more than one of each design I create. Many of my works have been infused with thousands of tiny, individually cut pieces of mosaic tile used to breathe a colorful resuscitation into them. No two pieces are alike.
I try and use at least 50% recycled parts in all my work. "The Cathedral," my largest work to date, was built with an abandoned oak coffee table I found in the street and a Confessional-looking grate found at an estate sale.
100% Handmade
Having been brought up in an atmosphere of Artists, I was showered with positive reinforcement any time I created something uniquely my own that I crafted from he ground up. I learned that the fast and easy way wasn't necessarily the most satisfying when you'd reach the end and looked back at the journey. Spending a little more time to enjoy the process and get lost in the details has always felt much more rewarding.
That being said, I feel pride that every piece I create, I do so by hand. I cut the wood with a handsaw, I clip all the tiles with a manual cutter and although I do use an electric sander, I actually prefer the feel of raw sandpaper in my hand when sanding.
It seems only fitting that since I work with vintage finds and forgotten antique treasures, that I bring them back to life "the old fashioned way," by hand.
“Life beats down and crushes the soul and Art reminds you that you have one”