|
|
On Thursday -- Earth Day -- devotees of recycling will celebrate the various ways that the world's waste can be reduced by "re-purposing," that is, doing something to trash destined for the landfill that makes it desirable and less likely to get thrown away, at least for a while.In the same vein, On Friday, local art devotees got a sneak preview of discarded items cleverly worked into functional and decorative creations, work plucked from the garbage bin and put into the art bin to be auctioned off May 1 as a fundraiser for the Salvation Army. "Transformed Treasures" has become a popular annual frolic for novice and professional artists alike. Participants are allowed to choose items from local Salvation Army Thrift Stores, take them home and turn loose their imaginations on the booty. The result can be a delightful and startling metamorphosis. Many of the finished pieces are perfectly practical -- felted purses, chimes, baskets, worn-out children's clothes made into patches and sewn into a quilt. Others are primarily art, like Christopher Lutes' "Computer Crucifix," with a cross formed from electronic components and the Google logo running across Jesus' chest. Or Mary Hetert's wall hangings made from yarn salvaged from old sweaters. Or the comic bulldog built from work gloves by Jane Hafling, the cartoonist whose commentaries on daily life in Alaska were a weekly feature in the Anchorage Times for many years. The bulldog is paired with a poodle conjured from fluffy slippers by Fred Cook. Many pieces combine both elegant design and usefulness. Margret Hugi-Lewis has adorned a plain table with a striking knotted python. Teresa Anderson took broken mirror glass and formed a leaping salmon to brighten a coat rack. Another heart-warming doggy design, this one by Linda Lucky, also serves as a basket. Place mats made from old ties by Judy Wedemeyer look too elegant to eat on. Ann Kaiser's zany "Zeitgeist" clock, with unfinished birdhouses reborn as Dr. Seuss-style structures springing out of the main body, is among the more fanciful pieces in this year's auction. One sees pieces where the original items still retain their recognizable form, at least in part. Dawn McQuay has made an Adirondack chair out of old skiis. Duane Hallback's lawn art "Yardbirds" feature shovel heads. You still can go shopping with Linda Ewer's cloth bag festooned with fashion labels. Sometimes you wonder why someone threw out the raw material, like the fossil ivory that Cindy Curtis combined with beads and a broach to make a unique piece of new jewelry. Whatever the reason behind the discarding, the pieces coming up for sale testify to the ingenuity of the salvagers and serve as an inspiration for re-purposers everywhere.