My Grandmother was the master of what she called “making do”. Today, we would call it
radical upcycling. I remember her making the most marvelous things out of odds
and ends that she had around the house……odds and ends that most modern people
would throw out.
We have become the quintessential “throw away” society. At
the same time, we talk about recycling. But, our concept of recycling is very
narrow and misses almost all of the incredible upcycling opportunities that are
right in front of our eyes! We have been programed to think that recycling is
just cans, bottle, paper and plastic. We don’t even see the possibilities that
abound for reuse in a broken paper clip, empty toilet paper roll, old tattered
clothing, used envelopes, rubber bands and a host of other unusual items. As
reuse becomes our focus, we have less to recycle.
My Vermont farmhouse is full of hand crocheted “rag rugs”
that my Grandmother bequeathed me. They are heirlooms. She would use old
tattered clothing by ripping the items into long, uniform strips. Then she
would sew the ends of the strips together and wind them into a ball….all of
this while sitting by the woodfire telling us stories. Once she had enough
balls, the crocheting began. I cherish these rugs. They are not only beautiful,
but they represent her. She (and her
stories) lives on in her craft work.
When we were children, my Father made us blocks out of pieces of wood that were left over from his woodshop. He carefully sanded each shape, then painted them with leftover house paint, after which he decoupaged on pictures of rabbits, alphabet letters, fairies and other childish wonders. We built castles and fortes. And, inside those fortes were the clothespin people that Mother fashioned. They had brightly colored skirts and shirts, all made from mending scraps. No plastic. No packaging. No corporate profits.
We have been conditioned to think, “what do I need to buy to do this project?” We could, instead, think “what do I have on hand to make this project?” Changing our thinking, getting rid of the conditioned mind so that the creative mind can re-enliven. Creativity instead of conditioned consumerism.
One of the most wasteful industries in modern society is the
art culture. I make a lot of art so I am keenly aware of how many “materials”
get purchased by artists….myself included. I took a long, hard look at this a few years
ago and resolved to incorporate more upcycling into my art projects. I have
loved the results and enjoyed the challenge. I like to make hand-made greeting
cards. Each card is an original piece of art that the recipients can frame and
enjoy. It is not a reproduction…..it’s an original piece! The amount of custom
papers, though, that get trimmed and wasted to make individually sized cards is
egregious. Likewise, the half-used tubes of paints that dry up before they are
brought out again. This vexed me and I experimented with a number of substrates
to see what I could “make do” with.
I was delighted with the results. I took a mixed media approach and began using materials that I already had on hand. I even took a page from my Father’s playbook and used some leftover house-paint. Instead of buying new custom papers, I used the inserts from packaging. I even had really good luck using empty toilet paper rolls. I cut them open, flattened them and, after applying gesso, found that Prismacolors flowed over them like butter. They worked up into some really beautiful cards!!
And, of course, any Thrift Store is an upcycler’s Paradise!
