Shhh...

I have a new major project in the works. 

I'm SO excited.  I'll be using this blog to keep myself accountable (like I did for my mural project that inspired the blog).  I'll unveil it after Found Object Art Month is over.

But here's are a few clues to keep you interested: this blog is "JewishGalArt.blogspot.com" and this project is more true to this name than my recent undertakings, it's a large scale project with a specific deadline that I didn't set myself, and it's something that can be distributed and many people will be able to use.  Oh, and I am definitely not the first person to make something like this.

That's So Meta

(image credit to linked article)


I like to think of artists making art out of recycled objects while working inside their recycled subway car studios.

Richard Salley, and intention in found object art making

I found this image of a beautiful found-object jewelry piece by Richard Salley on vintaj.com, a jewelry website/magazine/blog.  The wrote that Richard said,

"...the thing about found object art is that the pieces themselves don’t have much value. The value comes from the creative process of putting those things together in some artful way" 

Yes!   He says he doesn't consider himself a jeweler, more like someone who can make wearable art, since he doesn't use any materials that have intrinsic value.  I love that.  That's really why I love found object art.  These materials are lowly pieces of trash (more often than not), but they can be raised to a higher level by the creative process of assemblage and intention.  It sometimes feels like a parallel process to art therapy work - that someone's challenges, set-backs, sadness, could be something they would want to throw away, but it can be transformed into something beautiful.

(Read Richard Salley's blog!)

Marcel Duchamp: first famous found object artist?

Fountain, by Marcel Duchamp.
(image credit to the wikipedia article)

Well, maybe he wasn't the first famous found object artist, but certainly his fountain is a classic example of found object art (although, is it maybe more conceptual art than found object art?.

Defining Home continued

Posting twice today to show an update of the defining home project (the last update was posted on my birthday).

I really like how it's coming along.  I like this project because I feel like I am really working alongside the people in my group.  Sometimes, especially when I get out the magazines, I am tempted to cut out pictures of flowers and pretty things, but I don't.  I'm trying to model the level of complexity and intention I am hoping they will achieve through this project.

I'm also trying to include other found objects, not just collaging and painting on the cardboard (although it's very tempting!)

In this end this project will have 8 pages (four physical pieces of cardboard).  We will be working on them for another 3 weeks, finishing on the last Monday of November and creating small write-ups about them for our gallery.

Michelle Renee Bernard

Michelle Renee Bernard's (image credit to her) website "Yesterday's Trash" has many fantastic examples of found object art projects! Iwent to her site recently to find some inspiration for some of my art groups that I'm running at work.  Her pieces have an amazing sense of humor, made from toys and seemingly random objects.  There's something a little carnival about it.  Check out her etsy site to purchase her work!

Cork Baby

This "cork baby" is made by Marita Dingus, written about in the Olympia Dumpster Diver's blog. Marita regularly uses found objects in her artwork, so please check out her website! Also the Olympia Dumpster Diver's blog is full of great images of their finds, as well as the work made from some of fruits of their dives :)

Bags made from Recycled Denim

These bags are amazing!!!




(Read the original post here)


OKAY, I love bags, I am going to give into that cliche. BUT. ALSO. These bags are made from recycled denim! Would you think that just looking at them? Probably not. At least, I wouldn't. I like the first one but maybe without the cat metal thing on it. But I love the fringes and it just looks so comfortable and slouchy, just the way I like my bags.

I found this post about 7 bags made from recycled denim and was so excited. But then I saw - wait - this is part of a recycled denim challenge? Where lots of people recycled denim into amazing things you wouldn't know were made from recycled fabric?

And the winner of this challenge was this hilariously awesome and relatively practical dining set:



(Read the post here)

Love! Love! Love! It makes me want to cut up my old (aka too small) jeans. Except I am a sad sight with the sewing machine. So instead I will just have hearts for this challenge and those beautiful recycled bags. Ahhh.

Recycled Scrap Paper Notebooks

(Photo credit: Design*Sponge)


Do you have:

- 8 ½” x 11” scrap paper (from faxes, printing mishaps and mail)
- binder clips
- scraps of cardboard or wood paint mixers
- elmers glue, pvc or a glue gun
- paint brush
- decorative scrap paper
- masking tape and/or decorative tape

Then check out this great tutorial for making your own awesome recycled scrap paper notebooks over at Design*Sponge!

I love this tutorial!! I am going to have to give this a shot, myself. I love making books, and this project seems pretty easy to do (and to tweak so I can put my own flare on it). I, like some of the other commenters, have lots of pads of paper and notebooks that aren't 100% used but I don't want to throw them away because maaaaybe some day I will use those last ten pages. Well, that day is coming soon, as in, I will rip them out of the notebook and combine them all into one awesome recycled notebook.

Yessss.....

Little Worlds in Toilet Paper Tubes

These little worlds were made by Anastassia Elias. Wow. It's amazing what you can do when you re-imagine materials! Who would have thought to cut these little scenes out of the inside of toilet paper tubes? I love the way they become like silhouette scenes when the light shines just right.

I also happen to kind of love silhouette art, which I guess is trendy right now, but one of my favorite artists is Kara Walker (and a google image search). I actually went to a talk she gave a couple of years ago in Chicago. Very cool and inspiring! It's amazing how evocative a simple black and white silhouette can be.

(Found Anastassia Elias from the Renegade Handmade blog)