Just got back from The Flower Riviera and Arma di Taggia where I will be having an exhibition this summer at the newly opened gallery M'arte. The area is known, in part, for its olives. Marco and Cristina gave us a "care package" full of goodies including olive pate' and tomato pesto. We stayed at the charming Hotel Vita Serena. However, the night before, we stayed in Alassio where I found a shop, Terra, selling Isabelle Teste hats and plastic bag purses from Africa. They also sold Momaboma recycled wallets but I found them to be a bit too expensive.
----anéis , felt rings-------Crafty Synergy is a collection of interviews with inspiring artists. We learn a little about each of the creative businesses they own. ------recycled lamp-----Shafir is self-taught in the medium of mosaics. She always knew, even as a young girl, that one day the road would lead her to this destiny.-----Explorer, inventor and maverick Susan Lenart Kazmer, is an award-winning artist recognized for her pioneering use of found objects in jewelry making.-----Wall Hangings from Industrial Materials ----
RSA Arts & Ecology supports the work of the arts in examining and addressing social and environmental concerns in an interdisciplinary and international arena. The entire programme is informed by the notion of ecology as the study of relationships between an individual and their cultural, social, political, economic and natural environments,......the hungry head, environment and action-----California may Ban Conventional Lightbulbs by 2012 -----
hand puppet dog, made by a group of rural knitters in kenya
no wonder our perception of beauty is ditorteed, Reginald Pike's Yael Staav and Ogilvy's Tim Piper take us from human being to billboard in under 60 seconds in this impressive new spot from Dove---Inspiration: Good at Art-------James Gillray-----
beatrice alemagna illustration--- Natali Fortier----Ocean Taxi--"Hamburger Heart" by Matthew Langille illustration--The top wearable artists in the field are invited to go all-out and make their most unique and creative garments each year for the Bernina Fashion Show-----Sketchbook Pendant-------cutie-pie tutorial ---felting and fulling wool blog-----BibliOdyssey blog-----Folk lore attributes “penny rugs” to table rugs created with woolen fabrics using coins or pennies as the pattern often seen on vintage pieces dating from the Civil War era. As with other folk art, everyday life design motifs are popular on original rugs.----KNITTA PLEASE: Graffiti You Can Cuddle Up To-----Paper Quilts & Beads -----
L’Occhio del Riciclone----Two of four 12" porcelain plates of featured cities----a new city guide painting---from idea to publication----Mummy Jars---ARTWORDS---Passage----The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness book-----
Leftover coffee, scraps of papers and the remnants of food left from family gatherings…in a word, "garbage." They are the evidence of everyday life, quickly thrown out and soon forgotten.
Recycled Magazine Necklace, Proof that eco-friendly can be fashionable. Made in Brazil, this unique necklace is comprised of crystals, semi-precious stones, and ceramic and recycled beads. The latter are created by hand from post-consumer magazines; each piece is treated with a water-repellent coating for added durability.
My friend Ute suggested I see the film La Science des rêves and here I discovered the work of Lauri Faggioni : Fedoras and Felt Monkeys-----Lauri Faggioni is a recent friend and collaborator of Michel's. They call her a fiber artist, as yarn has long been one of her primary media----Lauri Faggioni's new site-----lauri faggioni--- "I was a shy kid," Lauri Faggioni says. "My mom said I needed to make friends. So I literally did, sewing little monkeys and birds from scraps of towels and old clothes." -----Lauri Faggioni y Michel Gondry----
Embroidered story books, I developed an interest in making books from an early age, enjoying the intimacy and physicality that the tangible form of the book offers. -----‘Memory’ Concertina / 3D Book-----Hand-made book by Frances Pickering -----Law Book Lamp----Fore-edge Painting------junk books, My junk books started after my conversion from collector to junker.* (For more on that you can click to Call Me Carter, my junker's life.)------HOW TO - Make your own blank books-----needlecase made from a book----
Ex libris, locuzione latina che tradotta significa "dai libri di", indica sotto forma di etichetta il possesso di un libro.
carved telephone books, This Cuban-born artist uses recycled, unwanted material - the phone book, home of tens of thousands of names. Into this discarded catalog, using a razor knife and acrylic, the artist carves a single portrait as if the names of all of the catalog members join together to form a single person. Alex has been developing his "phone book heads" for several years and believes that "carving and painting a head from a phone directory celebrates the individual lost in the anonymous list of thousands of names that describes the size of the community". more
Telephone Book Basket, A basket, sturdily woven from the pages of old telephone directories. Available in 'white pages' or 'yellow pages', with raffia handles.
a mended pitcher, Mends, The Ames Gallery began showing mended items in the 1980's with a show titled On the Mend. Our evolving collection includes broken, worn and cracked pieces that have been rendered whole again. Stapled china, patched buckets, and wired jugs have been transformed from the commonplace to the extraordinary, by virtue of their creative repair. (scroll down)
Emmeline Pankhurst (4 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was one of the founders of the British suffragette movement. It is the name of "Mrs Pankhurst", more than any other, which is associated with the struggle for the enfranchisement of women in the period immediately preceding World War I.-----
Candy Wrapper Handbags ------Malteser Wrapper Clutch Purse---Designer Olga Abadi produced the Nahui Ollin specialty line of handbags after discovering an ancient Mayan technique of binding everyday materials into fully functional and durable handbags at a festival near her hometown in Mexico. Infused with a modern look and feel, the Nahui Ollin candy wrapper handbags are handmade from hundreds of collected candy wrappers and soda labels by folding and weaving individual pieces together to create various shapes and sizes.-----Wrappers Delight----MEXICAN ARTISANS TURN TRASH INTO FASHION ----
Not too small, not too big - these colorful wrapper purses are for you ladies that like to carry your stuff around. It fits wallet, keys, cellphone
Think about those little bags of peanuts you get as your meal on flights these days. Now imagine them woven with other foil packaging into beautiful, solid purses. These brilliant colored purses are made in Mexico from foil candy wrappers with zipper closures.
sweetie purse......... Interview with Stan and Elaine Cohen, Founders of Sweetiepurse----
Viterra pouches & totes:In urban India, the plethora of plastic bags that blow through the streets are gathered by the homeless and traded in for money. The bags are then processed into the raw material used to create these bags. No dyes are used to create this innovative fabric, as the earthy bands of color are actually derived from the bags themselves
Our Road O'Foto is made from a real license plate. Inside, a 3/4" capacity binder holds inserts to accommodate 36 4"x6" photos (and unlimited smiles!) A recycled rubber snap keeps your photos secure
Aguas Calientes Wedding Huipil.....Huipil [Wee-peel] is a Spanish term for a Maya woman's traditional blouse. It is the most personal, communicative and significant part of her traje or costume, and the grandest form of the culture's weaving heritage. It is used to identify the specific village of the wearer, her social and marital status, religious background and beliefs, wealth, authority and individual personality. In the mid-1960s, there were well over 200 recognizably different costume styles within Guatemala. Today, this number has declined appreciably. Each village has its own traje that is distinctive in shape, design, style, and color. It is these differences that allow an informed observer to read the information encoded in the textiles. In some ways, Maya huipils have changed greatly over the centuries, while in other aspects they have remained remarkably constant.
Recycled Huipil Handbag ...Unique purse made of embroidered cotton fabric from recycled huipiles, colorful blouses worn by Mayan women.
Catfish, Vintage cat and fish charms, jewelry, and doodads over a trophy tuna recycled from the set of The X-Files by ramona otto ---more ramona---even more----
how to use green tea leaves for something other than drinking------BILLBOARD EARRINGS-----Top Five - Recycled paper products----stitch by stitch------(Check out the Seamstress Video)-----Women Beyond Borders, with support from Tajima Creative, is pleased to be presenting this dynamic exhibition, highlighting the personal stories of prominent national and regional women at a series of events around the country. ----
Whiplash - May challenge - Miniature quilts-----Dawn DeDeaux has been wind tossed by Hurricane Katrina to aTree House on the Fish River a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico in coastal Alabama where she commutes in and out of the New Orleans War Zone------Reinventing the Pocket----Accessories I've Designed -----Mono Felt----KnitKnit is an artist's publication dedicated to the intersection of traditional craft and contemporary art. KnitKnit is published twice per year and includes interviews, profiles, articles, reviews and drawings. Each issue comes either with or without a limited edition, handmade cover created by a fine artist. ----Embroidered Portraits By Jenny Hart----
Barbara Bachner, Earth Shoes II, 2002 Shoes, modelling paste, emulsion transfer, acrylic paint ----The Lost Woman, 2001 Found objects and mixed media-----
Jenni Dutton uses the subject of the female body and clothing to work with the concept of absence and transformation, exploring associations around memory through her mixed media constructions.
water harvesting: Rain Catchers-----In general, water harvesting is the activity of direct collection of rainwater. The rainwater collected can be stored for direct use or can be recharged into the groundwater. Rain is the first form of water that we know in the hydrological cycle, hence is a primary source of water for us.------Rain Water Harvesting----
Green roof development involves the creation of "contained" green space on top of a structure. This green space could be below, at or above ground level, but in all cases the plants are not planted in the "ground" but in a special compost.
The World Conservation Union is the world’s largest and most important conservation network. The Union brings together 83 States, 110 government agencies, more than 800 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. The Union’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. ------Art for theEnvironment -------Secret Rooftop Garden -----roof-farming-southeast-london----Keep South Central Farm on Top of New Warehouse? ----Talking Permaculture with Joe Polaischer of Rainbow Valley Farm - Part 1----
“I asked my friends to give me materials to put into the rope. A lot of people gave me materials from friends who had passed away. Giving them to me to put into the rope is like giving them another life, another form.
lattine in borsa----Terza edizione di RiartEco, l'unica manifestazione che presenta opere d'arte realizzate da artisti, studenti e professionisti con materiali di scarto e rifiuti. Le opere selezionate arrivano da tutto il mondo-----fiori di plastica, Quando andiamo a buttare l'immondizia, ci sono dei contenitoriper: la plastica , la carta, il vetro, le pile, il cartone, le medicine ecc. ogni materiale può essere suddiviso per mezzo della raccolta differenziata-----IORICREO: costruire, inventare, creare e ricreare da quello che di solito si butta via.----- newspaper tapestries, Arazzi realizzati da Ivano Vitali con la carta dei giornali 2005/'06
Un secolo di case fatte di bottiglie----REMADE IN ITALY-----matrec La prima banca dati italiana di ecodesign-------tappi di sughero,---Waste: quel che resta dell'arte----La decrescita è innanzitutto uno slogan. Uno slogan per indicare la necessità e l'urgenza di una inversione di tendenza rispetto al modello dominante dello sviluppo e della crescita illimitati. Una inversione di tendenza che si rende necessaria per il semplice motivo che l'attuale modello di sviluppo è ecologicamente insostenibile, ingiusto ed incompatibile con il mantenimento della pace. ----Un vasetto di yogurt prodotto industrialmente e acquistato attraverso i circuiti commerciali, per arrivare sulla tavola dei consumatori percorre da 1.200 a 1.500 chilometri, costa 10 euro al litro, ha bisogno di contenitori di plastica e di imballaggi di cartone, subisce trattamenti di conservazione che spesso non lasciano sopravvivere i batteri da cui è stato formato------
Artmongers vision is to create a circuit of Public Art in the North of Lewisham Borough, without the viewer having to walk more that 200 metres from one artwork to the next. People will find artworks unexpectedly while they are going about their daily life. The artistic interventions will happen on any banal object that surrounds us and will be made in collaboration with others. We aim to complete the project by 2008.
Tips for Recycling and Reusing ---Art made from Pop Tops---TRASHFORMATIONS: Recycled Art by Polly Harrison. "I enjoy the adventure of finding ways to use "TRASH" in the pieces I create. It is a joy to see it transformed into objects that can be appreciated as art, rather than seen as society's discards. The consistency of my work does not lie is technique or materials, but my effort to make a statement for conservation."-----Pulp Fashion---- Fiesta Charm Bracelet ---bird houses, Whimsical homes for feathered and flying friends made from barnsiding, tin roof remnants, architectural hardware and water faucets---
"Rem(a)inders," refers to Michele Pred's preference for unconventional materials, as well as to memory of time and events. The artist creates sculptures of confiscated items from airport security checkpoints-scissors, pocketknives, clippers, or recycled objects such as cell phone chargers. Most of her material comes from San Francisco's International Airport, obtained and confiscated since 9/11/2001.
The Dutch designer HELLA JONGERIUS (1963-) works on the cusp of design, craft, art and technology to fuse traditional and contemporary influences, high tech and low tech, the industrial and artisanal. ----Houseware Show - 2006 ------
AMAZON BOOKS: Artists' Houses ------By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art---Cottages by the Sea, The Handmade Homes of Carmel, America's First Artist Community ----Crafting a Modern World: The Architecture and Design of Antonin and Noémi Raymond -----Pretty Little Things: Collage Jewelry, Trinkets, Keepsakes -----Textile Designs: Two Hundred Years of European and American Patterns ----The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted ----The Physiology of Taste ----The Studio Book ----Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women----La trousse à couture : Petit conte philosophique pour 20 objets à confectionner soi-même --
Palmtherapy is a powerful breakthrough for rapidly relieving emotional suffering and for accelerating human potential through the hand/brain/mind connection, reaching the brain through the (touch and nontouch) stimulation of various areas and lines on the palms of the hands which are related to brain/mind activity and the personality. Palmtherapy was invented by Moshe Zwang in Autumn of 1985.
This unusual basket was created by The Recycled Planet Store, a company specializing in designing functional, unique and colorful objects from recyclable materials. The basket is part of the “Magazine Collection”
Unique basket made from recycled plastic bags by textile design team Massey Rogers -----Hose Baskets-------recycled goods-----
faucet and soap-----A Simpler Way blog----Twenty-One Percent of Women Tested Nationwide Have Mercury Levels Higher Than EPA Limit -------The curry cure------
sandals from tires...Five and a half years ago, a Kenyan and an American, neither of whom were yet 25, walked through the Korogocho shantytown of Nairobi. They decided that the best way to fight poverty and save the earth was to make a gorgeous sandal out of all the used tires lying around. And so the handmade Eco Sandal was born, made only of used tire soles, glue, leather, and thread.
Annie makes each pair of shoes by hand at her studio in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. Mohop shoes are composed of rubber soling made from recycled tires, a Finnish birch plywood core, and topped with various select veneers. These components are laminated together and pressed on molds that Annie designed and fabricated herself. The graphics on the footbed of the sandals are Annie's original designs...
this I totally love! Garden tools made from plastic bottles, a by-product ofDr3 Workshop, Industrial Design Guadalajara, Mexico
This is a superb hand painted brooch depicting a waterfall and foliage, parts of the sky and waterfall have been created using butterfly wing technique.
Alys’s beautiful illustrations have been snapped up by Habitat and adorn the pages of Elle to name a few. Now you can wear a little of this magic upon your sleeve with her range of felt brooches. Each brooch is packaged with a screen-printed message for the recipient, relevant to the design.
Back from San Antonio...the first time I've been back to the States in 12 years. And I must say, things have really changed. And the change has had a tremendous effect on me. Because I found a very surrealistic atmosphere. There are many things that I would like to comment on but am afraid that it would be difficult for me to do so with diplomacy.
But since this blog has always dealt with environmental issues, I will bluntly say that there is way too much waste going on in the USA. On every level. For example, the hotel where we stayed had this sign in the bathroom HELP SAVE MOTHER EARTH encouraging us to use the same towels as long as possible. Which is not a problem because even at home, we don't change towels everyday. But don't give me that Mother Earth Stuff when the hotel breakfast room uses ONLY plastic--knives, forks, plates, cups, glasses all throw-away plastic. And restaurants everywhere give you huge glasses of water with tons of ice (really bad for the stomach!) that are barely touched. You know, clean water that's just thrown away. And the use of artificial air everywhere. As if fresh air in the home is out of style. And, of course, it's useless to mention the amount of gasoline used in a big car society where the automobile is the major and sometimes only means of transportation.
Another thing, I would like to encourage my fellow Americans to be more aware about the food they're eating. On the plane we were given crackers with the writing: REAL Cheese inside! Excuse me, but what other kind of cheese should be used? I began reading the ingredients on all the packaged food around me and discovered that I couldn't pronounce or define most of what was written. So I thought I'd play it safe by eating fresh fruit. There were apples bright red and shiny as if they'd come out of Snow White's basket but, bitten into, were brown (and tasteless). Normally, an apple first shows signs of decay from the outside and not the in. Probably, these apples have been genetically modified. Luckily, here in Italy where food is not only nourishment but a philosophy of life, genetically modified food is banned. And I saw many a body that seemed well on its way towards being genetically modified, too. Food plays such a fundamental role in terms of our health both physical and mental. So if you eat chemicals, expect chemical warfare in your body. While we were in the States, we heard so many people talking about having friends and family affected with bi-polar disorders. Even bi-polar ads on telephone booths. Seems like an epidemic in the States and it's not even known about here in Italy. Bi-polar disorders seem to be chemical in nature and, in my opinion, are directly correlated to the kind of food one eats.
Recycled Metal Art at recycled santa fe-----Kathleen O'Neill,My work uses recycled materials - decorative tins, bottlecaps, tin ceilings and roofs and the like. From these I fashion a variety of items. A few of them are pictured here.
Botany Collection (Shirts)2005 Natural materials set in resin in acrylic cases,Jane Edden is a British artist whose work is a synthesis of science, technology and art. Her initial inspiration came from the relationship between nature and culture and the desire to collect and categorise. She has also worked with installation, photography and sound
Trash Basket ----
artist: Fort Guerin title: Girl with Beach Ball (2006)
atelier v's funnel coat hook ...see also their solution for eating with chopsticks
KIRSTEN HASSENFELD Sweet Nothing Paper with Mixed Media, 2005
hand puppet dog, made by a group of rural knitters in kenya 
Elfrun Lach: 
Magnificent Harrison 
