Reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose...

...renew, upcycle - whatever you call it, making the old into new is a passion of mine.

I've turned dryer sheets into curtains , 

'I Should Have Listened to Mom' cafe curtains

a damaged child's board book into a colour fix, 

a broken boot into a sculpture,

discarded wine bottles and glasses into table art, 

 

cigar boxes into keepsakes,

worn-out blue jeans into print-making templates, 

buttons into decorative elements,

empty paint tubes, beer bottle caps, vintage hair clips and outdated costume jewellery into paintings, 

scraps of paper into mini accordion books,

throw-away boxes into memory-keepers, 

wine and beer bottle caps into gardens, 

an obsolete law book into a different kind of garden, 

torn and pages-missing soft cover books into a table sculptures,

foam scraps into monoprinting templates, 

and the list goes on and on.  My passion  obsession for making the most of things means that I look at everything with an assessing eye, knowing it could be something entirely different.  (Don't worry, John, you're safe . . . so far.)

Word has it that there is going to be a Trashion show here in town in May, where artists are encouraged to turn trash into fashion.  Anybody got any used dryer sheets they can spare? I feel some new clothes coming on.

You've had your sneak peek...

...along with a more comprehensive look at the recent Material Change show that was held in Kimberley last month. I thought I'd show you some more detailed photos of a few of the works that went into it.  All show pieces incorporated a change of materials (most of them would otherwise have been headed for the landfill) which were repurposed as a work of art.

Darcy Wanuk and I both did a cocktail boot for the show - this was my version.

'Who Needs Gucci?'  Altered Cocktail Boot © Win Dinn 2017

A small painting incorporating discarded wine bottle shrink capsules sold at the opening.

'Squaring the Circle V' 4 x 4" mixed media on canvas  © Win Dinn 2017

This little 'painting' is a favourite for the combination of cast-off blue jeans and coffee bean bags.

'Blue Jean Nosegay' 4 x 4" mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn 2017

The flower in this painting was created from a piece of fabric donated some time ago by Eileen Gidman, a dear art friend.

'Eileen's Flower' 4 x 4" mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn 2017

I shot this photo just before taking the piece down at the end of the show.  I love how the shadows make it look as though there are two hands playing the instrument!

'Ukulele Gone Wild' altered child's toy © Win Dinn 2017

This wall hanging incorporates texturing templates that have been too well used (by myself and students), bottle caps and discarded candy wrappers on the coffee bean bag support.

'Retired' mixed media burlap wall hanging © Win Dinn 2017

 This is my all-time favourite book sculpture to date.  I think he/she/it/other looks totally alien!

'Expat from Arcturus' book sculpture © Win Dinn 2017

 Another burlap and blue jean piece, this one is much larger than the 4 x 4 Blue Jean Nosegay.

'Squaring the Circle IV' 2' x 2' panel © Win Dinn 2017

The leftover bits of burlap went to create these coasters...I've really come to enjoy deconstructing burlap since there are so many ways to play with it.

'Pick up a Sixpack' burlap coasters © Win Dinn 2017

I love the knock-your-eyes-out red fabric centre in this occasional table (there's a painted one, too - but that's for another post)...it's totally true that Red Is Best in my world!

'Fire from the Centre' refurbished  table © Win Dinn 2017

I'd love to know how you incorporate 'headed for the landfill' objects in your art.  Add your ways in the comments below; there are just so many ways to play with oddments I know I'm missing some!

It's curtains for me...

....and for you as well.  I've been promising the follow-up on this story for a while, and now is the time.

The curtain project was an ill-conceived thought, the execution was painful, and the results were so haphazard it's a wonder the project was ever finished.

As you can see from the beginning of the story, they were designed to fit a tight-cornered bathroom window and I'm glad to say that they really fit well there above those colourful heels.

'I Should Have Listened to Mom' cafe curtains
 ©  Win Dinn

The range of painted dryer sheets is extensive, running from lemon yellow through several shades of gold and sienna, dancing briefly on a tint of burgundy and accented with so many shades of red, yellow, gold, sienna and orange embroidery floss it's hard to count them (Thank you for that, Alice).

When one gets to the close-ups, you can see why I feel like they may last only a nano-second or two, even with the plain dryer sheets holding them together on the back.  The embroidery helps to tie them somewhat (or at least it would if I had had any idea of means and methods in that regard), and I'm pretty sure the extensive amount of mop-up paint does the same.

I have to admit that I was intrigued by the massive number of YouTube videos on the subject of embroidery stitches - there are literally hundreds of them, and when you consider the combination possibilities of the stitches the variety is endless.

 As always, it is the colour and texture that does it for me.

 When one looks closely, there are worlds within worlds in each dryer sheet.

From raw edges to flawed embroidery to daisies, stamping and endless hours hunched over an embroidery hoop,

I can only be pleased with my lunacy tenacity to see them hanging in the Material Changes show (see the previous post) and know that soon they'll be home again.

While I take a break from the purpose-driven creative activity of the last few months, I'm going to enjoy the feeling of making something that is so totally senseless, and possibly incubate something at least as crazy.  I could turn those pieces of painted cheesecloth into tiny jackets for the hummingbirds I see out the window (they're shivering in the rain right now), or paint a fuschia horse (oh, wait - I already did that!).  I'm sure I can come up with something.

How about you?  What's on your incubation list?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

I'm feeling bookish...

...these days (all days, if truth be told).  I've just finished a journal that's been in the works for quite some while and thought I'd share it with you.  Called 'Good Fortune,' the tie-it-together item is that there is a fortune cookie fortune on each page.  Some are real, and some are invented...can you tell the difference?

Coins from years of travels (mine and others') are secured to the front of the journal.  And guess what - this thing is heavy!

Front cover 'Good Fortune Journal'
© Win Dinn 2017

I enjoyed working with the unusual shape and size of the spreads.

Fortune:  Your ear for music is becoming more finely tuned.

Most of the backgrounds are created with mono-printed sheets and brayer cleaning pages.

Fortune: A single flower has no need to envy the garden.

I've added monoprint cutouts to some pages,

Fortune: A new outlook brightens your image and brings new friends. 

and torn pages, card remnants,

Fortune: Artists find more than one path to the garden.  (image on the right is by the incomparable Laura Leeder)

and even fun foam castoffs to the mix.

Fortune: Today's your red hot day.

Not only circle-obsessed (and you'll tons of those below), I'm also fascinated by connected ovals.

Fortune: A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts.

 I've used ephemera from cards I've received (thanks for these Judy),

Fortune:  Nature will tell you everything you need to know.

and some lovely Mucha images from a deck gifted to me by Alice.

Fortune: A pair of this or that - what's wrong with a single?

That was indeed good fortune!

Fortune:  You've been dealt a good hand - why not play it?

What better use for mop-up paper towels than a garden, I wonder?  None, I tell myself.

Fortune:  It's springtime - let's party!

You gotta know the upside-down bird is my favourite.

Fortune: Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.

My eye goes around and around on this page...it's definitely playtime when one uses layer upon layer of palette transfers, stamps, tissue and more.

Fortune:  The most direct approach isn't always the best.

The stencil I used for the pig-tailed pretty is one I created from a photo of my lovely niece Shaina.

Fortune: Impose not a burden on others which you cannot bear yourself.

There will always be a mandala or two in any journal I do - I can't seem to resist!

Fortune: Do not let great ambitions overshadow small success.

Red, yellow and orange just make me so happy.

Fortune: Share your happiness with others today.

 There are flowers everywhere - it must be coming up to summer, or maybe it's another obsession.

Fortune: Contemplate the flowers - more fun than weeding!

Textile fragments show up on this page - another gift from Alice.

Fortune: Some of the sweetest berries grow amidst the thorns.

Paper napkins, fabric fragments from Alison Bjorkman, and hole-punched prints all add to the colour here.

Fortune: Remember the birthday but never the age.

For some reason, husband John objected to this fortune.  :D

Fortune: The real questions is not whether machines think but whether men do.

 First version of this page,

Fortune: Are you listening?

followed by the opened cards.

An inside peek at the above page.

This page is much darker than I would usually do, and the cityscape was really fun - it's many years since I've lived in one.

Fortune: Sleep, rest, recover; then dream again.

And here are more flowers...definitely part of my good fortune!

Fortune: Flowers don't work for a living - they merely dance.

Again!

Fortune: Live like a wildflower, growing with the wind.

Here's another departure from my normally bright palette...inspired by Mucha, no doubt!

Fortune: No matter your game, play like it matters.

I'm not so much hankering for a tropical vacation right now, but this page will spell delight come mid-winter!

Fortune: A tropical vacation is coming your way.

My usual style, according to the fortune!

Fortune: Running around in circles?

 I suspect this was a reminder I needed!

Fortune: Step outside - there are whole universes to explore.

Here we've reached the end.  This back cover was meant to be covered in bills that I've saved from various vacations to different countries.  Of course, I couldn't find them when they were needed. They will no doubt turn up sometime in the near future, grinning cheekily while they give me the finger!

Back cover 'Good Fortune' 2017

Perhaps you'd share your favourite fortune cookie fortunes with me in the comments below - there are at least four more journals in progress in the studio, and I could always do another of these!

In the meantime, maybe you'd like to play hide and seek with some of the ephemera in this journal. Can you spot the two tags included, silver dollar (watch out - it's a trick!), book page, a pen, thread, stamp, lichen, library pocket, CD, dryer sheets, credit card fragment, string, wallpaper, massage ad, lost earring and globe?