Dumpster Delights

It probably doesn't surprise anyone that if I see a Dumpster (or just a pile of stuff on a curb) I rubber-neck to a dangerous degree.  If I'm biking, I'll stand up on my pedals or just jump right in with my helmet still on.  Generally, if there's anything good in there, I huff it home, grab the truck, and bee-line it back to the honey hole...with gloves, if I remember.

This summer and fall proved quite fruitful for all things Dumpster and curbside.  My shed is already really packed, but that doesn't stop me!  I took some booty pics of my adventures, but not all of them.

After hitting two INCREDIBLE Dumpsters on Holmes.  One was full of clean pieces of
MDF, the other had lots of dirty pieces of wood from a bathroom tear-out and porch demo,
along with adorable picket fence posts and even a boardgame.

Look at this beautiful chippy porch ceiling!

Cut down pieces of the picket fence for small lady faces

From an alley near 31st and Cherry...more clean lumber and plywood!

From 33rd and Troost.  A brick building was getting demolished and there was lots
of loose, wrecked lumber everywhere.  These pieces had the best story with
nicks and paint, so home they came.

And tonight in Mission, Kansas, I took an early turn  on my way to my cousin's house
and found a Dumpster FULL OF PERFECTLY GOOD STERILITE BOXES.  WITH LIDS!!

They're a little grimey but I can deal with that.

I didn't get pictures of the great group of stuff I found in a Dumpster in Janssen Place (the super fancy sub division in the middle of my 'hood with $1M+ mansions), but it included 500 Kodak slides from the 1960s, interesting household things and planters, and some homemade drawers/boxes that I was able to break down and use in my art as backgrounds.  The neighbors walking by were happy I was recycling and thought someone was cleaning out a basement.  Fine by me!

I also got a truckload of lumber from a rehab near 36th and Cherry that included super long-ass boards and pieces of a burned garage.

Square One studio at 31st and Holmes occasionally puts out free wood and MDF panels under a big sign that says "FREE WOOD" and I hit the mother lode this summer.  I could barely get all the 4 x 8 foot pieces in the truck, especially since I now have the camper shell.  I only took what I could lift myself, but that was about 8 whole panels that I had to break down into four pieces each before I could fit them in my shed.  This is what my desk clocks are made of and I have enough material to last a lifetime now!

Oh!  Almost forgot the pile of wood and metal rods at Armour and Holmes that I walked back to my house on top of my head (don't do that, even a few blocks will mess you UP!) and the neighbor who gave me his entire 100+ year old staircase (with risers!).  

Right place, right time.  I do regret that I couldn't get back to an apartment building that my friend used to live in at McGee and 41st that was getting razed, but you have to triage your time, and I was on my way to Omaha.

A Sterilite box saved is a Sterilite box earned!

Burlap Seed Sacks

This summer I discovered some truly beautiful old sacks that were maybe used once and then hidden away in a trash can.  That trash can (it was lidded) was then hidden away in a barrel.  That barrel was placed in a shed.  Then, maybe fifty years later, I came along and found them.  

Love at first sight!

Found on August 16, 2014

I want to flatten and frame them, but I'm scared to really do anything yet.  I've read you can steam old burlap to get the wrinkles out, or even iron them or toss 'em in the dryer for a bit, but what if they disintegrate?  For now I'll just put them under some heavy flat things and see what happens.

It's snowing today, so no picking--except I actually did get some more vinyl from my lovely source.  Then I slid all over the road getting home.  Worth it.

Made It: More Experiments

I've been on a tear playing with new materials and throwing caution to the wind!

Let's start with the skeletons (all sizes are 5 x 7 inches unless otherwise noted):

matboard, tea-stained old book page, acrylic paint, vinyl

matboard, found sheet music, acrylic paint, vinyl

I painted over the vinyl and tried to scrape it off...works better on the thick black vinyl.

matboard, painted found sheet music, vinyl

squiggle time

matboard, painted found book page, vinyl

matboard, found seed catalog page, paint, vinyl

8 x 10--salvaged wood, acrylic paint, vinyl
I actually have a tentative title for this one:
"Fill My Hollow Bones"

9 x 11.5--salvaged wood, acrylic paint, fabric paper, vinyl, gel medium

Gotta finish those edges!

Hearts!

matboard, found book page, vinyl, acrylic paint

matboard, painted found book page, vinyl, acrylic paint

 I painted over the top of this and then scraped it off, sgraffito style

matboard, layers of found, painted, and/or made papers, vinyl, paint

 throwback:

matboard, found painted hymnal page, vinyl

matboard, found and painted collaged paper, vinyl, acrylic paint

domestic goddesses:
matboard, music pages, paint, vinyl

 I have so many ideas, and I'm just not going to settle for one image style.  I love the weird, macabre skeleton and heart images, because everyone brings something different to those, depending on their history and feelings about health, guts, death, life, color, whathaveyou.  And the retro images just make me happy.  More of a Pop Art feel comes from those, and having some levity in a line of work isn't a bad thing.

I have a one day show this weekend in Lee's Summit, MO, during a bike race--Tour of Kansas City-- so I'm pumping out lots of stickers and other fun cycling-related paraphernalia.  Plus, it's the first day of summer, and I love spending the solstice outside all day.

Here's to the makers out there.  Keep plugging away!

The Year in Review

I have to say, 2013 was a great year for me, both personally and professionally.  I started a new business with The Retro Ranch, visited new cities and states while selling at art fairs with Eighty Acres Art, made a couple new lines of work, and experimented a lot with new materials and techniques.  I now proudly make clocks, art, stickers, candles, vases, and cards and sell old and rusty junk from Kansas.

How 'bout some photos!

First up, The Retro Ranch:

My first Retro Ranch sale on Etsy.  Sold to an artist in Florida.

 Springtime pickin'.  I sold the long lattice just this week at River Market Antiques.

The backside of several sheds that hold treasures great and small,
 and constantly make me wonder about my ancestors.  This IS the "Ranch."

I also seemed to be featured in many publications, both paper and digital.  This has been a real honor for me, and quite a surprise, as I don't actively seek this kind of publicity out.  It's a right place/right time kind of thing.  Big thanks to KC Magazine, mash handmade, BizBaz blog, The Scoop KC, InkKC/Kansas City Star, and the Travel Kansas blog!

Indulgence section of KC Magazine, early 2013.

Travel Kansas blog



Some behind-the-scenes goodies:

Photo shoot in my bedroom of table top clocks...Ginger isn't a very good assistant, honestly.



Found sheet music + small desk clock = happy customers!



This is the glamorous set up I have for product shots outside.



New frameables with a Kansas flair and found linens reproduced on fabric.
Wood and horseshoe provided by The Retro Ranch.

 
On the road: 

On my way to Oklahoma at a Flint Hills rest stop.

That's me!  In my booth in OKC.  Thanks to Laura Nugent for the great photo.
We got every kind of weather in Oklahoma: snow, hail, sun, rain, wind...this day was pretty nice.

The Devon Tower was ominous the night of the big storm in OKC.

We got outta there early and are SO glad we did!  The white circle is where the show was, the red circle is where we were staying.  We avoided most of the hail and scary conditions.

My first trip to Iowa City was great and I loved the college town feel.
Not the biting flies, however.

Post-Iowa City trip to Des Moines.  On the road a person often drives through
some crazy weather, and I could see it all from behind the wheel.

A cool thing! At Loring Park in Minneapolis.  This was my first trip to Minnesota;
 it was beautiful and lived up to its great reputation.

A super fun thing about setting up my tent is the occasional
disrespectful critter (in this case, I think it was a pterodactyl) leaving
a huge surprise for me to deal with. 

This is literally one of the only things between Minneapolis and Des Moines on I-35.

I also liked the wind farm somewhere north of Des Moines.

Custom Orders:

I had so many custom orders this year, but one of my favorites now lives with
my niece in Texas.  This has her favorite things: her seahorse (named Happy),
pink, and a rainbow.

8 x 8 Giraffe clock with numbers

8 x 8 I Love You American Sign Language clock

8 x 8 Glittery purple Dachshund clock

And a very big part of my life is my cats.  Here's the full family:

Ginger (male): age 8ish; FIV+; great at spooning; originally a porch cat.

Gracie: age 10; looks like a coffee bean when she sleeps; loves boxes,;
came to the family as a kitten (Sean's side).

Elsie: age 7; followed us home on a walk in '07; disappeared for two months this fall and
was given back to us; very tiny and my best frenemy.

Clover: age 10; found in a barn in Kansas as a wee babe; blogging and studio assistant;
very good at jumping after cat toys like a goalie.

Zevon: 2003-2013; brilliant biscuit maker, sleeper-onner, purr factory;
 medical mystery, and missed horribly every single day.

I feel I've grown this year, and even if it might not look that way on paper, I know my business and artwork has, too.  Thanks to one and all! 

2014 is going to be great.