In the Argentine economy collapsed in late December 2001, the residents of José León Suárez, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, were among the first to lose their jobs. In the following months many, faced with the prospect of starvation, joined piquetero organizations—informal networks dedicated to mutual aid and often destructive political protest. In José León Suárez, residents successfully lobbied the government to begin nightly train service from their community to the more salubrious neighborhoods of downtown Buenos Aires, where cartoneros—cardboard collectors—sort through the day's trash in search of recyclable material that can be exchanged for money. Today, according to the International Red Cross, some 2,000 cartoneros use the train. Volunteers staff a nursery school so that children will have a safe place to be while their parents are at work every night.
The recent economical crisis in Argentina didn't wait to show its devastating effects: in a few months many companies closed, the acquiring power of money has decreased to less than one third and for many people has become a serious problem to find out the way to survive. Probably the most evident aspect related to this situation is the phenomenon of the cartoneros. With this name are called people (owning, just a few months ago, a normal job) that make a living from collecting paper from the trash bags in Buenos Aires streets and selling it to the recycle industry. An organized community of cartoneros living on the suburbs of Buenos Aires has recently obtained a special train service to go from their town to the downtown districts of the city.
EVERY night the streets of Buenos Aires fill with those who, before Argentina's economic collapse, did not exist. These 'new' visitors are the cartoneros, the men, women and children who sift through the city's garbage and at dawn take the paper and cardboard to sell in exchange for cash. In 2002, one of the biggest currency devaluations in history attracted foreign tourists and tens of thousands of cartoneros to the city. Tourists compare Buenos Aires with Paris--though for the cartoneros, recruited by unemployment and an astronomical rise in the price of paper, the place is more an inferno of poverty. But it could be that the collapse has engendered, as well as poor people, creative alternatives inside the inferno.
'It will become the most important publisher in the country, I'm sure of it.' This doesn't seem improbable when Washington Cucurto, writer and one of three founders of Eloisa Cartonera, says it. This is the first publisher to produce books with covers of cardboard, collected and hand-painted by cartoneros. Eloisa is autogestionado, a 'self-start' undertaking that has already published more than 20 titles, some by unpublished authors, others by well-established ones.
In a broken-down shop on Guardia Street, young writers and artists have established an art gallery and bookshop that serves as the public face of Eloisa Cartonera, a publishing house that makes original books from recycled cardboard and cheap prints and sells them for less than 5 pesos ($1.60) each, about a third the price of a conventional paperback. more
Nothing is as it should be at a small publishing house that has been hailed as one of Argentina's great cultural successes. Today, the offices smell of garlic and onion, there is no money to print books and the editor himself is the one cutting the book covers, made with cardboard scavenged from the garbage.
Easter weekend and it will proablably be difficult for me to post again until next week. Finally, SUNSHINE IN ROME and I can finally start moving around on my scooter again|!
ShiRRéT™ is an emerging American art form that has a French accent. It combines your favorite collected fabrics with that magnificent obsession - crochet! And it uses a very cool special needle.
Ronda Rowley is a recent Honours Graduate of the Ontario College of Art. She spent the summer of 1996
studying at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. Now residing in Flesherton Ontario,
Ronda raises a flock of sheep; producing original knitted, felted and woven creations from their wool.
PICK OF THE WEEK! Plastic Bag Rug AND VERY EASY INSTRUCTIONS!
Sono Osato at Brian Gross Gallery.........Osato intuitively embeds text in the form of reclaimed objects that impart a palpable physicality to her gritty and powerful compositions. Osato further uses reclaimed objects in Asma, a complex wall sculpture composed of bedsprings, bones, and typewriter keys. The interwoven threads allude to a mystic language, yet it remains encrypted and buried among the maze of wires. ...Home is Inside Me by Sono Osato
Found Art Sculpture by Julia Morrill---FOUND Magazine subscription!-----Found Object 'Order & Chaos' Sculptures ---links to found objects sites----Flower MandalaCreated as a temporary performance art piece installation then swept away,
Object Magazine delivers an Australasian perspective and current thinking on craft and design ---
Joyce Scott is the "Queen of Beadwork". Her exuberant beaded sculptural forms and neckpieces are provocative and confrontational, addressing political and social issues-- Beads have been used to pray and to cast spells. The Zulu people used beadwork to compose love letters. The Chinese use beads to do mathematical calculations---People sometimes ask, "Why do you stitch?" or "Why don't you just paint?" Connections to textiles in my daily life make fiber materials very real to me and inherently meaningful. As a child I sewed, crocheted afghans, and made rag dolls----
The Funky Chicken Art Project started off being a dilapidated chicken house out in the middle of nowhere. In January, 1995, transformation began to turn it into an art gallery and an outdoor sculpture garden for whimsical, contemporary, and quality works of art.
Wola Nani Crafts (south africa) emerged in response to the need for unemployed, HIV-positive women to generate an income. Through a developmental, self help approach the project’s members have been enabled to take greater control of their lives and achieve a better quality of life. We thank you for contributing to their lives.
Ganesha is a partnership formed by Jo Lawbuary and Purnendu Roy, with a shop on the South Bank. With an eye for the unusual, we import quality home furnishings and accessories from India, sourced from / developed with co-operatives and producer associations. Extending markets for marginal producers and supplying the UK with life-enhancing goods, we are supporting an alternative vision of trade.---
Neide Ambrosio....."What started as a hobby makes my day. I am never able to lay my crochet hooks aside. Wherever I go, they are with me...." SEE HER SODA POP TAB HANDBAGS!
NOVICA...We want to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. And, we want to provide you with access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values that only the Internet infrastructure can allow.
Here the welded steel table is covered with a variety of readymade household articles such as rubber gloves, clothespins and dishrags. The repetitive, monotonous nature of domestic ritual is emphasized by the profusion of these items; their disposability reinforces the expendable nature of domestic work.
It should be noted that about 125 individuals die from eating peanuts in the USAeach year1,
that is over the twice the number who die from insect stings. Despite these fatalities, some of
whom are relatively high profile such as a young Scottish athlete who died from ingesting some
peanuts within a chicken sandwich, few measures appear to being taken to protect such individuals.
Some European airlines have banned the distribution of peanuts in flight, however, due to the obvious
risks involved. On the other hand some alleged American centres of medical excellence are working
comic wedding invitations---Caryn Leschen is a full-time freelance illustrator, copywriter, cartoonist and animator. ---Ariane Nadii assemblage via my bloom'n art----stencil with style collection of stencils---- carter's american junk----Paper Quilts----contemporary self-taught artist----Kansas Art Quilters ----This quilt is the beginning of a new series called "Handy Women". This series looks at the roles women are expected to fill in modern life----Use a thrift store find to create exercise pants!---I didn't plan to make a lamp; the idea was to unclutter my work space. Stashed under my desk was a shopping bag filled to splitting with CDs. ----
laura splan via penny dreadful---feito de jornais, more woven newspaper and recycling for daily life----knitted flower made from old plastic bags AND this pencil case!--- tetrapak wallets----cartiera di tetrapak---tetrapak craft for kids----Frisbee made from recycled Tetra Pak container---Two Tetra Pak beverage cartons, Tetra classic and Tetra Brik, have been included in an exhibition of everyday “inspired designs that help make life easier, safer and more fulfilling” at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. --
After seeing many homeless people in New York Cityusing crushed coffee cups to beg for change, artist George Skelcher created this unique purse that he originally showed at a New Yorkart gallery. The Lucky Beggar Purse is made of leather, and closely resembles the famous New York Citycoffee cup with the words "We are happy to serve you" printed on it
packing tape turreen .......LOIS WALPOLE……Traditionally, baskets are made from materials craftspeople find in their local environment. Lois Walpole lives in an inner city area and she enjoys making baskets from materials which she finds around her - namely recycled or waste materials. She chose to make this basket out of discarded packing tape--- Crisp Box Container---- Laundry BasketJuice Cartons--- Newspaper, Bike Wheel, Wire & Glass table--- Book Ends from books--- BowlsAssorted Materials--- Images of Grown Home at Kew Gardens-----
jenny harada's homemade goods and blog---Welcome to sushimifune.com crafts---momomoogie artwork----super pompom girl weblog----tami's totes----Recreation basketball courts. The courts surfaces will be made of recycled rubber soles of used sneakers. Word is the surfaces are awesome.
Yesterday we went to Calcata, a small town outside of Rome. A young woman there, Ade Peeters, makes wonderful little baskets from magazine pages and sells them in her shop, La Carta Rivista. Ade said she learned the technique in Brasile. She takes a page from a magazine then rolls it into a long thin cone inserting the point into the funnel to lengthen this kind of paper rope.
RELATED: Although at first glance its surface may look like wood grain, this unique vase is actually constructed entirely out of recycled newspaper and aluminum!---Made in Brazil. This picture frame is totally handmade using magazines. ----Newspaper Weave Evening Bag ------woven newspaper tote----Top Five - Recycled paper products
While the mats and the blinds had the newspaper straws sticking to the straight and narrow, EATIT WORLD began to explore other possibilities too – bending them this way and that, twirling them a little and cross-weaving. And suddenly we had a real fun product - a Sun Hat---these bags are produced from recycled material. Therefore, each bag has its own unique design.
emp sneakers. Recycled rubber belts. Messenger bags and purses made from discarded highway billboards. A chair fashioned from corrugated fiberboard. Sound like stuff you'd buy from a tie-dyed vendor selling wears from the back of his VW van? Oh contraire; you've just been introduced to just a few of the plethora of products available from Vivavi.---how to construct a basic "magazine" tote---Avril Magazine Picture Purse---This is a very collectible novelty purse that was popular in the 70s. It looks like a rolled magazine and is to be used as a clutch---
address book with attractive recycled circuit board front and back.----Circuit boards have been recycled by using them as clipboards ----recycled circuit boards----- watchband out of recycled computer circuit boards.-----An attractive and innovative range of office and stationery products made from recycled circuit boards. Products available include mousemats, rulers, business card holders, personal organisers and address books, keyrings, coasters, clocks and clipboards-----more-----circuit board fabric quilt---Transistors and Printed Circuit Board Ink and gouache on tissue----The bottom 3 are cut from a brown-tinted circuit board, the top are cut from a green circuit board and the middle joint triangle is cut from blue circuit board----circuit board artwowrk----
CompuNote is a completely new product concept: Recycle computer trash into cool consumer products. All CompuNote products have a unique basis: they are made out of rejected Computer Circuit Boards.
Some 20 Million (!) Computers are discarded each year worldwide, and 80% cannot be re-used. Before CompuNote, these computers were dumped as waste in landfills or burned, both taking its toll on the environment.
Texas's freewheeling soupmaker, A former computer programmer quit his job and became the Soup Peddler-----textile arts links---a textile study---Title: "Quiet for Now" Size: 7" x 8" x 7" Materials: handspun paper, linen thread, leather------Title: "Not Knot Dress III", Size: 13" x 11.5" x 18" Materials: muslin, steel wire, encaustics----flowers made from sugar---
Here are some free paper toys that you can make yourself. Just print them out, cut, glue and enjoy. I've tried to keep them easy to figure out---
Masterpiece Enamel Teapots.....Frenchmen were the first to make enamel miniatures in the 17th-century. The English learned the skills in the 18th-century and applied them to copper boxes and created the hand-painted bibelots. Unfortunately, the English now use transfer-printing technology in order to mass produce the bibelots. Reviving the 17th-century English tradition, these teapots are 100% handmade enamel miniatures.
Make A Woven Newspaper Sit-Upon---Unique Newspaper Journal - Woven Newspaper with Cotton for the Cover and Bamboo pages inside -----looks like ratan doesn't it? it's actually made of newspaper!--rolled newpaper flag----Build a log cabin from rolled newspapers.----He rolled up 50 half pages of the Los Angeles Times Classified newspaper section and the evolution of Germ’s Gems had its beginnings.-----papier mache animals---
gutter petter, My series of large wall pieces are created from rolled newspaper tubes, which are then constructed by the use of weaving technique over hemp cord.
Fool your friends and family into thinking you've dropped your dinner on the floor! ---Trashformations East--more- Great newspaper crafts from FamilyFun ----Recycle paper crafts: make baskets from old newspapers----
Newspaper basket about 6" d , 4 " deep made of rolled up paper bound with plastic bags the paper comes in - completely free materials Based on an idea in "Crafty Containers" by Lois Walpole.
new love: Ed Rossbach.....and his coiled & fiber newspaper baskets....SEE--SEE--SEE--SEE--SEE--SEE--"Retro Hand-Printed Textiles; a Visual Remembrance from the Studios of Katherine Westphal and Ed Rossbach"
collage machine via reconstructed mind---3 FolkArt for wall----Knitting With Dog Hair : Better A Sweater From A Dog You Know and Love Than From A Sheep You'll Never Meet book----angry chicken weblog---artisticvisions ..This Blog is dedicated to the education of art students everywhere. In it, I hope to include images, information and inspiration for everyone who is still learning.-----Artist's Journals by Jo Kasunic----
Paperclay expert information, articles, images, and linksat graham hay gallery
----Paper Mache' Bracelet gallery ---lacativa art-----artist's loft at soul food cafe-----art brut, In the medical literature, Auguste Forestier is called "Auguste" or "For". He has always been fascinated by railroads. Curious to see how the wheels of a train crush an obstacle, he decides to gather some pebbles onto the rails, causing the train to derail and his confinement to the mental hospital of Saint-Alban. -----In the past three years I've been making a variety of art shrines and assemblage pieces that combine my love of acrylic painted surfaces, collage and other mixed media. -----The Sewing Circles of Herat : A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan book----
Made of recycled plastic from soda bottles, this colorful mat is portable, lightweight and durable. Spreads to a generous 3' x 6', then rolls up and fastens tight with a velcro closure. The two 16" nylon straps make carrying it a breeze.
Generations/Transformations: American Fiber Art---My work is based on processes of stitching and staining. Stretched canvases are spattered with drips and splotches. These organic shapes become a pattern to be sewn over and around, the thread transforming modern art's "drip" into something new and unfamiliar.---Bilder von der Ausstellung "Die Gugginger Künstler" --cut and paste craft---CD Cake Box --
All are made by hand by George Vargas of Springfield, who learned how to make women's handbags and other amazing sculptures from recycled chip bags while he was in prision. The technique he uses originates from a Mexican paper weaving art.
A life full of challenges, Vargas, who is HIV positive, a former drug addict and prisoner, is a testimony to the human spirit and what it can overcome. As the tag on his bags so eloquently states, "More than transformation of trash into art, the handbag you're about to purchase represents the beauty inherent in second chances."
Recycling Mixed Paper--- candy wrapper museum----Made w/ Starburst Wrapper & C Purse made w/ Capri Sun ----a poem on a continuous length of paper, weaving it in and out of an entire block----Paper weaving is a prison folk art form that recycles the kinds of materials available to the incarcerated--candy wrappers and other colorful packaging, folded carefully to display just the right color in just the right place--a craft passed down from prisoner to prisoner, prison to prison.----
Though the exact origins of the craft are not clear, tejido is a form of backstrap weaving, where the loom is tied around the sitting weaver’s back,---temple sobre papel tejido----tejido de palma.---- Sombrero de palma tejido--Tejidos de Palma---En esta tradición artística y creadora, se utilizan elementos tales como: barro, madera, productos vegetales y fibras naturales, los cuales fusionados dan forma y diseño a lo moderno y lo tradicional----El petate es un tejido de paja---
Trained as a figurative painter, Constance Alyce Westvig Roberts calls herself a "thing- maker." In her work, she bridges the realms of fine art and folk art and tackles many subjects with sharp wit and unrestrained humor---Using waste materials to make crafts is not only an excellent way to recycle, it is also a good way to teach/learn about waste reduction. It provides people of all ages a creative challenge and can be a fun activity for the whole family. ----
Home made glasses, Maratani Refugee Camp, Mozambique, 2001
Karen Kessi-Williams
Homemade Ice Cream----homemade quilts-----homemade toothpaste---Lisa's Homemade Bread Recipes----Custom Homemade Plastic Bag Birthday Candle Powered Fire Balloons----Interesting Danish site with 20 recipes for homemade paint---Homemade Laundry Detergent ---- A display of homemade candles from West Africa----homemade banjo----homemade Bleach Bottle Banjo---homemade maracas----
When both aprons and desserts were homemade------Charm someone special on Valentine's Day with a piece of homemade jewelry---homemade black cloth doll---Accessorize any outfit with this homemade bracelet-----homemade birdhouse---another Homemade Birdhouse----homemade shoes book----
gouache, enamel, correction fluid, nails, dried flowers, orange peel, cloth and paper on canvas mounted on wood panel-----US scientists have discovered a way to make plastics from orange peel, using the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide--Fruit peel (pericarp); the fruit juice is also a valuable food additive. Candied orange peel (orange succade) is prepared from the thick-skinned bitter orange, a closely related species (see below). Extracts and distillates obtained from orange blossoms play an important rôle in perfume industry. Orange blossom water (neroli water) is a watery distillate popular for flavouring sweets and drinks. ---Orange Peel Plastic----Orange Peel Muffins---This Chinese Export Platter has a gray white glaze and a pronounced orange peel surface with a rim design trimmed in gold---orange peel in coffeee---Zen and the Art of Orange Peeling---
The Peeler by Tom Phillips: a plaster and orange peel skull----orange peel faces--- orange peel snowflake---
The Blue Phase is like a carpet made of orange peel (figure copyright Pamela Davis Kivelson): the edges of the cuts are the defect lines.
beautiful orange peel baskets---Serendipitous (2000) Jan Hopkins Grapefruit peel, waxed linen, paper, lotus pods and yellow cedar bark---Perhaps one of the most dynamic artists working today, Jan Hopkins is a master at creating sculptural baskets from unusual natural materials such as citrus peel, lotus pods, black bamboo, and silver dollar seed pods while simultaneously incorporating traditional basket materials like agave leaves and cedar bark.--I have expanded my work with alternative materials such as citrus peels, sturgeon skin, black bamboo in combination with silver dollar seed pods, agave leaves and lotus pod tops by creating more sculptural and figurative pieces. I am also exploring graphic designs that I ìpuzzleî together. Working with materials that are not often used or associated with basketry gives me unlimited opportunities for innovation.---ORANGE PEEL BRA---Jan Hopkins, Puzzled, 2000; grapefruit peel, waxed linen, paper--wreath with dried oranges
A talented group of Colombians turn orange peels (shown left), ordinarily a waste product, into artistic creations. What started out as a hobby has expanded a business, and has engaged many other members of the community. These women help supply orange peels and produce the Christmas decorations, boxes, dolls and angels
and in Provence, the hanging strands of gourds and dried oranges poked with cloves----ORANGE PEEL potpourri ----This is a wonderful smelling potpourri recipe. This can be given to anyone as a small gift at Christmas time (or any time) to let them know you are thinking of them -- mail carrier, hairdresser, etc. It is very inexpensive to make.----Orange Spice Potpourri
Formerly an artist-run website, Artkrush has relaunched as an email magazine----Raid Projects is a non commercial artist-run project space and curatorial organization that is dedicated to promoting the exchange of cultural products and ideas through various exhibition models on a regional, national and international basis---2005 is a year of new beginnings for Flavorpill, with newly designed mailers
The kenaf plant is considered one of the most promising alternatives to virgin soft and hard woods for paper production. An herbaceous annual related to cotton and okra, kenaf is a member of the mallow family indigenous to West Africa. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) began researching kenaf in the 1940s, when World War II put a stop to jute imports from Asia. In 1960, the USDA chose kenaf from among five hundred candidates as the most promising non-wood fiber for pulp and paper production. After much research and numerous trials runs, kenaf paper is now available from several commercial retailers and is being used by major corporations, printing and graphics firms and publishers.
Papier Mache craft uses waste paper pulp as the basic raw material, sometimes combined with starch. The paper pulp is then given various forms and shapes, limited only by the imagination of the artist. In Indian tribal papier-mache crafts, artists typically use the pulp as soft clay and sculpt various figures of men, women and Gods and Goddesses. This primitive method results in a unique form of papier mache art, which is slightly rough in nature but offers a special insight into tribal arts.
nancy cohen drawings---The most common question I hear from other artists, galleries, and collectors is “How do you create your artwork?” That is, how do I paint with pulp and how do I make the paper on which I paint? In response, I have outlined, step-by-step, the process of creating one of my paintings.---Embossed Paper with stories----Once the pulp has been drawn from the vat, she rolls the mold onto woolen blankets. She presses the mold firmly in order to mingle the fibers into sheets. Her fingers work the fibers to imprint, crease, fold, and pinch the paper into form. The paper responds to her touch and to the air as it takes form.----Canoy Studio manufactures over 30 different varieties of natural fiber paper pulp for papermakers and art enthusiasts. We understand that paper is the face and foundation of many a masterpiece and guarantee our pulp is some of the highest quality and most varied on the market!----Barbara Fletcher has spent the last 15 years experimenting with the artistic possibilities of fiber, fabric and paper. She uses many different methods of dyeing, painting and batiking to achieve the results she wants.----What types of items do you press the paper into to get a variety of textures?
pulp paintings ---Welcome to Jane Ingram Allen's Gallery----Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration ----
Why stare at a refrigerator carton when you can drink in this view? Set a prettier table with this polyester/vinyl slip for a half-gallon milk container. Waterproof, wipe clean, and easy to hold.
tetrapak wallets----Frisbee made from recycled Tetra Pak containers----For Tetra Pak, being a successful company also means being committed to the environment. Tetra Pak has developed the goals, activities, and organisational and evaluation structures necessary to turn this mission into action. Tetra Pak’s overall environmental impact depend on what happens at every stage of the life cycle of our products and services, from design and purchasing, through to the transport, filling, consumption and disposal of our packages. This is why Tetra Pak’s environmental programs and actions focus on managing and minimising the environmental impact in every phase of the products' life cycle.---recycled milk carton bird feeder----Milk Cartons are a common paper waste that can be recycled to make functional items and decorative art. A half-gallon milk carton is an amazing piece of paper engineering. This 4x4x8 container can hold just over four pounds of liquid for 10 or more days without leaking. Not only that, it can retain its beautiful yet simple rectangular Victorian house like shape from all the abuse it is subjected to in the factory were it is filled, in supermarket and handling in homes. Imaging how many times a milk carton is moved around in a home, before the milk is consumed and the carton thrown away. With all this abuse, it will retain its shape and hold the liquid without allowing it to leak.---- A Statement on Milk Cartons----The Board of Education of Masuda City, ShimanePrefecture in western Japan, has launched a project to recycle milk cartons from school lunches
Sixth grade students were inspired by the repetition and bold patterns in African textiles. Many of the animal images come from contemporary textile designs and the bronze relief of the ancient Benin culture. ---
the felted wool sweater blanket ....so amidst all the as-is runs to find fabric for the braided rug, i started noticing the serious sweater population at goodwill, and an idea popped into my head... i should collect those sweaters, and cut them up and reassemble them as a blanket!
"The next morning, I went to dump the trash can from my room, and I had a vision that hit me like a ton of bricks!! I know this sounds crazy, but I couldn't help to wonder why I was throwing away all that good trash. I ... brought the trash back to my room and started to piece together something. Maybe it was just that I was bored and needed something to do, or maybe God planted a seed in me, but the product of the things from that garbage can was something I loved in my life and something that always allowed me to feel free.... the product of my first motorcycle made out of trash with a gas tank made out of a bar of soap!!"
Leland Dodd Kools Purse
Paper weaving is a craft practiced not only in prison and other institutions but also as hobo art, and at children’s summer camp. Prisonser use cigarette wrappers, potato chip bags etc. - any kind of paper that works. Convicts weave paper to make frames, cup holders, jewelry boxes, scrap books, crosses, miniature churches and houses. One Hispanic inmate calls it “tejido” or netting, and says it reminds him of the fishing nets in the village where he grew up. “Maybe it’s my Indian heritage, being close to nature, or maybe I’m just behind the times.”
prison art: In the movie classic, Man With A Golden Arm, star Frank Sinatra, on being released from prison, presents his wife with a belt made of woven cigarette packs. Prison art describes folk art objects made from folded and woven gum wrappers, cigarette packs (with & without the cellophane), paper bags and similar materials.
Here is an extremely simple but useful project - a door mounted spice rack. The idea is quite simple - mount a rack on the inside of each door of a kitchen cabinet to make it easier to see the various spice bottles.----I had a bit more of that recycled pre-used 3/8" oak left over from the CD storage case I made a while ago, and so I decided to make that spice rack we so desperately needed.----spice rack----
Is that a shirt or a dress? No, it's a SKRESS! via someone keeps moving my chair
links via Dioramarama: Collage Kids----Handcrafted beaded jewelry featuring natural stone, fine glass and porcelain beads, crystals and beautiful gemstones, all finished in sterling silver ----
FIBER DIET---Imagine a room with 50s decor where everything's made from wool. Knitted cakes, teapots, cups and biscuits - even a knife and loaf of crusty white bread - while over in the corner sits a knitted valve mantel radio.
"I find (textiles) to be a powerful medium for self-expression and communication because of the cultural preconceptions surrounding this area. There is the constant question of art or craft? When working in an area between two disciplines people are often disturbed by the difficulty of categorising the work. The inescapable connotations of "women's work" and feminist art are both constricting and liberating.