I’m a big fan of frugality (ok, my family says I’m just cheap) and I also tend to celebrate (and be humbled) by creativity, especially in art. To create something where there once was nothing is a special skill. Then, to choose the materials and method to actually build or make a piece of art once the idea is there requires an additional level of talent. So, when I hear about artwork that is made from recycled materials, I am already halfway sold. I’ve recently discovered a few artists who work in the same recycled medium and produce quite varied sculpture–I think they are all terrific.
At any flea market or jumble sale, you’re bound to find plenty of old, mismatched silverware. I actually bought some recently for my daughter at a fund raiser for the local fire department. She’s just going to use the sundry forks, knives and spoons in her dorm room and maybe in an apartment she is considering for next year. Some people, though, scour these sales with much loftier goals in mind. I was undeniably impressed by British artist, Ann Carrington’s amazing “floral” arrangements that are made completely out of silverware. Other artists, like Gary Hovey, repurpose eating utensils into richly detailed metal animal sculptures. Another animal sculptor uses the same “raw materials”, but produces wildly different art. A judge by day, Ken Law (yes, really) is also a devotee of creating incredibly detailed metal animal sculptures of of silverware (as well as a few other commonly found metal tools and utensils).
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