Reusing Recyclable Packaging
Whether you purchase art from me in person or online, a majority of the packaging you’ll receive is being reused! I collect and keep a variety of plastic and paper bags, tissue paper, bubble wrap, and more, all of which I put to use when you purchase art from me that needs to be wrapped up.
I encourage anyone that receives packing from me with their purchase to reuse or recycle these items as well. Most grocery stores will collect plastic bags for recycling and paper bags and products can usually be recycled through your local collection. You can also reuse these bags when shopping elsewhere or even utilize these packaging materials for your own artistic projects.
And of course, when purchasing artwork from me in person please feel free to request no bag at all if and when you don’t feel it’s necessary. If you have no need for such materials, sometimes the best thing you can do is prevent it from coming into your home in the first place.
Recycled Art Materials
For anyone that’s seen my art supply storage, you’d know that I hold onto a lot of things. This includes anything from old magazines, to old clothing, to parts of a broken ceiling fan. What you may not know is that a lot of these materials get used in my creative process as I turn them into new useful or decorative items. I’ve turned old bowling balls into lawn ornaments, old paper and photographs into collages, and have even purchased broken items from retail stores and restored them into a new thing entirely.
I love giving worn out or broken items a new life and if I can save something from a trash bag, I prefer to do so. This may have led to a large and eclectic collection of items in my storage but I’m constantly rummaging around these materials and often times find the perfect object for what I’m doing. This idea of reusing old materials has always been a part of my studio practice though it’s not something I often find myself mentioning when discussing my work. But as of June 2023, all artwork that contains reused or recycled materials will be labeled as such and I hope to show just how easy and fun it can be to incorporate these items into your work.
Items that will always be made from recycled materials include:
hand painted glass bottles which I collect from local businesses, family and friends
bowling ball lawn ornaments which are collected from people in my community as well as rescued from local bowling alleys
Otherwise, you can look out for this tag on my artwork which will detail which elements of the piece are recycled materials:
