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.
Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.
Participating artists
Katharine Adams
Teresa Anderson
Carrie Barcom
Denise Barrett
Bobbie Bianchi
Rona Bissonette
Debra Blanchard
Diane Block
Lauri Bond
Shirley Boyer
Connie Chambers
Althea Clapp
Megan Cline
Kimberly Crow
Cindy Curtis
Lorri Davis
Lainie Dreas
Debbie Dubac
Bill Earl
Linda Ewers
Eli Fleischer
Joey Ann Fowkes
Michael Fredericks and Anne Wortmann
Collette Fry
Rachel Gebauer
Robert Geiger
Danielle Guenther
Jane Hafling and Fred Cook
Sheila Hall
Duane Hallback
Terry Harding
Mary Hertert
Debra Hignite
Misty Holler
Eric Holmstrand
Margret Hugi-Lewis
Marie Jennings
Dorothy Jowers
Ann Kaiser
James Kaiser
Kara Kirkpatrick
Laura Swier Kotelman
Laura Larson
Amara Liggett
Linda Lucky
Christopher Lutes
Dallas Jeanne McDonald
Dawn McQuay
Kim Marcucci
Judy Middleton
Betty Miller
Natasha Miller
Ann Morgester
Demetrius Morisa
Deb Myhre
One of a Kind Design: (Jenith Flynn, Rachel Broady, Jessica Dault, Carrie Lenkszus and Jacinda Stoklosa)
Joyce and Jim Paulus
Nancy Perry
Sandra Quinones and Joellen Vice
Vicky Rae
Gayla Ranf
Pat Rivers
Cindy Shake
Kimberley Sikora
Kirsten and Karin Sikora
Pat Sims and Jeannie Smith
Sherri Stein
Carolyn Strand
Beth Taylor
Mary Thomas
Paige Tiede
Jackie Tuttle
Shannon Tuttle
Toby Ventura
Kenyada Waters
Pamela Mae Weaver
Judy Wedemeyer
Mason Westra
Jules Wolfe
By MIKE DUNHAM
mdunham@adn.com
Alaska Dispatch Publishing