{Altering Things} The Art of Upcycling and Recycling
Creative play to save us from further damage to the mother earth
{Altering Art} a form of mixed media artwork that changes an object from its original form, or appearance or meaning. It may be as simple as adding a drawing or onto an object, or alter from its original usage.
{Things}
Did I mentioned that I am a paper, ephemera (amongst other things) junkie? While I am not a collector of anything in particular, I love picking up paper keepsakes like business cards from the places I have visited, paper placemats from the restaurants I have dined at, movies and events ticket stubs, TTC transfers on special days, labels on some of the things that I owned…. I like to incorporate them in my art journal and photo albums. Occasionally I’d pick up a piece of nice printed paper, a beer coaster, or advertisement postcards, because of their interesting design or the thoughts, emotions, or stories that it evokes.
{Things}
And then there is something precious about books. I want to keep every book that comes my way. Even thought I might never actually have read or going to read that book, it is still very difficult to let it go. I always thought of books as a being, who stands on their own, and has his/her story bind up neatly between a front and a back cover. The book itself seems incidental. Since it is impractical to keep books that have no direct relationship with me (letting a stranger to stay in my home for good), I need to find a reason to keep them. One of the best reasons is so that I can use to paint and write books in my art, or use books as a substrate, over, paste things on, to make a personal and physical connection with the book with or without owning the actual, physical connection of its story.
{Altering)
All we need is to take a good look around us. We can see that excessive consumerism has brought upon us global health epidemics, threatens our eco-system, messing up our climate. I often dig into the recycling bin and find treasures that I can play with. Following the awareness of recycling, upcycling was cleverly invented. Upcycling is the process of repurposing an item deemed to be no longer useful. In this workshop, I will show you how to create magic by turning ordinary, junky objects into a piece of functional art. Warning: After experiencing this workshop, you will never look at trash the same way again. No prior garbage picking or art experience required.
{Tips}
Consider where you can find treasure from junk: How about……
- That lovely T-shirt or pair of jeans that you used to love, and though has obviously become dated, you just couldn`t bring yourself to part with it?
- All the massive amount of trash that we throw out every day?
- the carton boxes that came along to package your online purchases?
- That emptied jam jar?
- All the junk mail, newspapers and magazines that we subscribe to and read every day?
Class Size:
Maximum 4 (in studio)
Fees:
$30.00 – 2 hours session
Please inquire about group discount and multiple session special discounts.
What to bring:
- Bring something from your recycle bin that you would like to work with (tin can, tin box, paper box, wooden box, cigar box, etc.)
- All other supplies used in this workshop will be provided
- (Optional) Artist / Crafter’s Basic Tool Kit (if you already have one)
- (Optional) Images of your choosing (papers, magazine clippings, photographs, your own artworks)
- Please wear comfortable and casual clothes as we might get messy when creating
- An adventurous and open-mind