adaptive reuse

Blue Genie Art Bazaar in Full Swing

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:21:00 +0000

Once again the folks at Blue Genie have outdone themselves. Not only have they created a mesmerizing shopping experience, but the have also perfected an art show model that allows artists to show their work without being tied to their booth. I love the diverse mix of great work* and am overjoyed to have a place to show and sell my work for the entire month of December. If you haven't been yet, make sure you don't miss this opportunity to shop over 140 local artists.** If you've been already, don't hesitate to go back. Not only are artists creating and displaying new things all the time, I see items I completely missed the day before.

Located once again at the Marchesa Hall in the Lincoln Village shopping plaza, they are open every day now through Christmas Eve from 10am to 10pm.

*Super Bonus: Unlike most shows, you only have to pull out your credit card just once.
**Double Super Bonus: There's a lobby bar stocked with adult beverages and cupcakes.

Check out the complete list of artists. There's no way I could list all the art I love at this show, but here are a few of my favorites and their wares:

Liz Potter of Bolsa Bonita

Susan Rodriguez of Ceramica Botanica

Carly Weaver

Catherine Hart

Chris Levack of AgaveGear

Holli Brown of Dish It Out!

Eric Billig Works

Graham Franciose

Brandy Davis of Pigsey Art

Judy Paul

Laura Gibson of Metalsgirl

Laura Maclay of Purse Snatcher

The Plaid Pigeon

Curious Customs

EAST--Weekend Two

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:28:00 +0000

Weekend one of the East Austin Studio Tour was a blast. The weather was splendid and folks were out in force. We had a great time chatting with everyone about art, demonstrating some of our techniques and even creating some community art together. We are looking forward to more of the same this weekend, so make sure to stop by No. 133 either Saturday or Sunday between 11am and 6pm.

East Austin Studio Tour

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:41:00 +0000

The whole east side of Austin is abuzz in anticipation for this year's East Austin Studio Tour. This, the 10th anniversary season, will feature over 300 artists in nearly 140 studio spaces. There is so much great stuff to see--make sure to pick up your tour book and start planning your routes today.

Here at stop Number 133 on Cherrywood Road we'll be featuring lots of art and jewelry made from upcycled materials. Holli Brown of Dish It Out Jewelry will be on hand with some of her lovely broken plate jewelry. The amazing upcycled tire mirrors from Flippin' Retire will once again adorn our front yard and this year Lee Anne will also be debuting a few pieces of her new collage work.

As in years past, folks will have a chance to sit and try their hand at some mosaic work and I'll also have some of my favorite jewelry tools out for show and tell. You can even have a shot at punching your own tin circles. It's great fun for the whole family. Our doors will be open from 11am to 6pm all four days, so hopefully you'll get a chance to stop by.

Ladies In Blue and Milk Lee Anne Gardner Warrenfells

We're fortunate to live in a neighborhood filled with all sorts of creative people. A dozen of those folks are on the tour and within walking distance of our place, so be sure to also check out at least a few of our talented neighbors.

No. 122--Jennifer Balkan | painting | 3109 Lafayette Ave

No. 124--Misha Maynerick Blaise | mixed media | 3209 Walnut Ave

No. 125--Aimi Dunn | painting, sculpture | 3309 Hollywood Ave

No. 126--Zü | sculpture, woodworking, ceramics | 3400 Layfayette Ave

No. 127--Ryan Cronk | printmaking, collage | 3514 Lafayette Ave

No. 128--T.R. Rodriquez | mosaic | 3514 Clarkson Ave

No. 129--Ron Telposky | Wandering Glass Studio | lampworking, glass | 1705 E 38.5 St

No. 130--Cut It Up Mosaics | mosaic | 1706 E 38.5 St

No. 131--Karen Maness | Rust Red Studio | painting, design | 3902 Cherrywood Rd

No. 132--Ines Batllo Visual Arts | encaustic, oil, pastel | 1506 Kirkwood Rd

I love being part of the Tour, but I do regret not getting a chance to visit other studios. If I were free to roam this weekend, I would definitely check out these artists:

No. 10--Barbara Lugge
No. 11--Paul Fucik, Arts and Recreation
No. 12--Barry George Sculpture Studio
No. 35--Edmo Martinez, Michael Merritt
No. 39--Ryan Anderson, RAD Furniture
No. 54--ARTPOST
No. 55--Michael Bennett, Central Machine Works
No. 56--Satch Grimley
No. 73--Sharon Kyle Kuhn, Bay 6 Studios
No. 75--Big Medium, Judy Paul
No. 84--John Mulvany
No. 86--Vertallee Letterpress

Donate Now

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 03:29:00 +0000

What's the best nation in the world? The Donation, of course! This Saturday the 29th is the first material donation day for the Austin Creative Reuse center. Items will be accepted from 8am to 4 pm at 6942 Ryan Dr, and a box will be on the porch up through their first gig during EAST.

Here is a list of the items they are accepting at this point:

Cardboard rolls (toliet paper and paper towel) * fabric scraps * Egg cartons * Bags (plastic, paper, or cloth) * Beads * Craft, art and sewing Supplies * Yarn + Knitting Supplies * Fabric (as long as it has never been used as bedding or clothing) * Picture Frames * Paper (Including wrapping paper, matboard, foam board) * Corks, Bottle Caps + Twist Ties * Craft Magazines, National Geographic, Art Magazines * Candles + Wax * Stickers * Records, CDs, VHS, Cassette Tapes, Floppy Disks * Sterile, Unused Lab Equipment * Tile, Glass, Wood Flooring

Austin Creative Reuse -- Official!

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:58:00 +0000

After months of preliminary work and lots of paperwork, the good folks at Austin Creative Reuse have secured their nonprofit status. I'm pretty excited for them and for us all. Surprisingly, Austin is behind the curve on this one. Now all we need is a resident artist program through Solid Waste Services and we'll be on par with San Francisco.

The ACR folks' inaugural event will tie in with the East Austin Studio Tour in November. Though their primary goal has always been to open a sustainable, permanent reuse center, a small center will be set up in the complex at 701 Tillery St. to start the process of collecting and redistributing materials. Here is a list of the items they will be accepting then and during the as-yet-to-be-determined collection day in late October.

• Cardboard rolls (toilet paper and paper towel)
• Fabric scraps
• Egg cartons
• Bags (plastic, paper, or cloth)
• Beads
• Craft, art and sewing Supplies
• Yarn + Knitting Supplies
• Fabric (as long as it has never been used as bedding or clothing)
• Picture Frames
• Paper (Including wrapping paper, matboard, foam board)
• Corks, Bottle Caps + Twist Ties
• Craft Magazines, National Geographic, Art Magazines
• Candles + Wax
• Stickers
• Records, CDs, VHS, Cassette Tapes, Floppy Disks
• Sterile, Unused Lab Equipment
• Tile, Glass, Wood Flooring

For more details and updates on this and other upcoming events, be sure to sign up for their newsletter.

Pallets Reborn

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:50:00 +0000

It's hard for me to believe, but one-third of the volume of US low-grade hardwood is used in the manufacturing of pallets and containers. There are no government regulations for recycling of pallets, but apparently around 80% are reused. That still leaves a large amount of wood going to waste.

On the upside, I'm seeing lots of great ideas on how to reuse pallets. That, and the fact that I regularly see them all around town for free makes me more and more tempted to pick up a few. Here are a few of my favorite ideas.

From Design Sponge

From Web Ecoist

From WeWasteTime

From Far Out Flora

Plastic Cap Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:56:00 +0000

This is stunning. Once again, enough of anything is art. Or, more accurately, can be transformed into art. Learn more about Mary Ellen Croteau's work on her site.

From: Stupiddope

Shop and Donate

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:46:00 +0000

A couple of fun events happening this weekend in the ATX:

Atown's Grand Opening Event

Friday, September 9th from 5 to 9 pm @ Atown (5502 Burnet Rd.)

I recently placed some work in Austin's newest boutique. Right in the heart of Allendale, Atown is jam packed with all sorts of lovely items--many of them locally handmade. If you haven't discovered it yet, be sure to stop by during their grand opening party this Friday from 5 to 9pm. Republic Tequila is sponsoring the adult beverages and, among other things, there will be raffle items given away every 15 minutes. All proceeds from the raffle will benefit Austin Pets Alive!

The Austin Flea

Saturday, September 10th from 11am to 5pm @ The Highball (1142 S. Lamar)

I love this laid back show because it always features a bunch of my favorite locally made goodness--and The Highball is a kick-ass venue. (We'll, it is a tad dark, but that's why we travel with lights!) The group is getting back together again this Saturday from 11am to 5 pm. To see the complete list of which lovely ATX artisans you'll be able to see, check out the Flea's website.

I'm excited to debut a few new pieces I've been working which feature my latest fascination--steel wire. It's always fun to get feedback from actual people (other than my husband who--smartly--likes everything I do!) This week many of the vendors will be donating a portion of their proceeds to help the recent central Texas fire victims. So be sure to spread the word and make plans to stop by as well--it's always a great time.

What Local Businesses Do

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:39:00 +0000

I just got an email yesterday that BookPeople will be donating a portion of all in-store and online sales to the American Red Cross in order to help the victims of the recent wildfires in the central Texas area. I love this store and am grateful to live in a place where locally-owned businesses thrive, and in return, support the community. Consider stopping by in person or virtually to pick up that new best seller, that new magazine you've been curious about, or that gift you need for your friend's upcoming birthday.

From their newsletter: BookPeople will be donating a portion of our sales from Tuesday 9/6 though Friday 9/9. This applies to all sales, both in-store and online. Our cashiers can also take direct donations at the registers--simply ask your cashier to donate to the Red Cross when checking out.

Upcycler of the Month: Sayaka Kajita Ganz

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:44:00 +0000

Some amazing sculptures from artist Sayaka Kajita Ganz. I'd expound a bit about them, but I think the images do a pretty good job of articulating the awesomeness.

Ghost

Ghost (detail)

Watch a short movie of Sayaka making the piece.

From: Chuk*num

New Gifted Tins

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:14:00 +0000

I think all my tins are special, but I do have a soft spot for those that come from someone nice enough to think of me and pass along their heirlooms and finds. Here are a few I feel especially lucky to have received recently.

You may remember the Spic and Span tray I wrote about a while back. Amazingly, a woman found the post and contacted me regarding her find of the "Grecian" version of the tray. She agreed to give me the tray in trade for a piece of jewelry. Here's the tray:

And here's the necklace:

A big thanks to all the folks out there who keep me in their tin thoughts.

Steel Here

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:26:00 +0000

I've written lots of post this last month, but never got a chance to actually sit down and type them in. I've also been working (some) and cooking up new ideas (a few), but mostly when I've had any free time (almost none) I've been playing with steel wire.

Why steel wire? It's not recycled but it is relatively "green." Mostly I just love the fact it's not precious and essentially a different version of the material I'm already using. I'm also really enamored with its oxidized silver look. I hadn't thought much about wire at all until I found Steel Wire Jewelry by Brenda Schweder while ~~hiding~~ hanging out for a bit at Barnes & Noble during a weekend-long family wedding extravaganza.

If I'd had any wire working skills to start with, I'm pretty sure I'd have a bunch of cool pieces by now. Instead I mostly have multiple bins all looking a lot like this:

I have managed to put together a few pieces that don't totally suck, though I'm still not completely satisfied with those either. I'm getting really intrigued with these simple wire frames around the tin, so I think I'll be digging deeper into that for a while. Working with wire has also piqued my interest in chains. Mostly I've been pretty spare with chain and have generally focused on creating simple pendants, but with wire the variety is pretty endless--as long as you're willing to commit the time! Though I don't suspect I'll ever make all my chain by hand, I am enjoying the ability to add more complexity to the pieces with a mix of handmade and manufactured links.

New Public Art at Shipe Pool

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 02:28:00 +0000

If you're in town, you have to make a point to stop by to see what my good pals Holli Brown and Pascal Simon have been up to. They are in the first stages of transforming a once boring concrete block wall into an amazing piece of art. They have finished this first stage of what will eventually span the entire pump house wall along the south end of the pool.

Find out more about the mural project here and "Like" the project on Facebook. You might also take a moment to see a bit more of Pascal's and Holli's individual work.

Here are a few of my favorite details. I'm pretty smitten with the über cute owls and the detail work on the squirrel spectacular.

18 Hands Gallery Show

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 18:04:00 +0000

I'm excited to have a few pieces in the upcoming Green Jewelry: Recycled/Upcycled show opening next weekend at 18 Hands Gallery in Houston.

The opening reception is Saturday, July 9th from 6 to 9pm and the show will be up through July. If you're in the Heights area, please stop by and check out the exhibit as well as some amazing contemporary ceramic work. Some by Austin artist Todd Van Duren.

Summer is Busy

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:06:00 +0000

Okay, we're two weeks in and I can see that postings to this blog are going to be sparse. That said, I just have to take 10 minutes and mention this fun event coming up on Sunday.

The Stitch Lab is one of my favorite places in Austin. Even though I don't spend near enough time there, I do keep up with their newsletters and lust after their always exciting classes. This week the gals are putting the final touches on their party honoring the accomplishments of two totally Austin chicks--Kathie Sever and Bernadette Noll.

Kathie and Bernadette have just finished their first book Make Stuff Together and will be celebrating its release this Sunday the 26th from 1 to 6pm at the Lab. If you've yet to visit this little house of creativity, this is the day to check it all out. The party is family friendly with lots of projects and games for kids of all ages. Hope to see you there!

Flea-ting Fame

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 03:05:00 +0000

As always, The Austin Flea at the Highball was fun, fun, fun. It's always a great mix of locally made goodness and people who are just so pleasant to spend time with.

This time around KXAN showed up to do a little piece about the show and the movement afoot to create pop-up shops to help artists connect to the community while they do a little sellin'. Kristin, the super-fab organizer of the show, asked several different artists if they would like the opportunity to be interviewed on camera. Apparently, no one saw this as an opportunity, so each declined. When she got around to me, I could see she was a little worried about getting someone to partake. I'm not a big fan of being on camera either, but I figured I could stumble through with the best of them. Plus, I like Kristin and didn't like seeing her look so stressed. (I realized later she was mostly stressed because SHE was also going to be interviewed!)

I've only been on TV twice and each time was pretty much a C- performance. My last appearance involved being asked to comment on a two-headed teddy bear made by another artist. Ostensibly I was there to talk about my own work, so was a bit startled by this off-the-cuff request. I quickly discarded the four really bad answers that sum up my thoughts about the reconstituted stuffed animals, and re-directed the question back to the show organizer who was standing next to me. A crisis was averted, but it was by no means a stellar performance.

This time a young guy and a big camera set up beside my booth to film a little 'action' footage first. Then he asked me a few questions relating to my work, the Flea and the business of craft. I knew the full two or three minutes would not be on air, but it's always interesting to see how things like this get edited and stitched together. I think the gist of the piece mirrors my answers that yes, the economy is slower, but people seem to be buying more thoughtfully with small, local businesses, so it evens out somewhat. But I'm not 100% sure. See what you think.

Make It Friday

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:46:00 +0000

The Austin Craft Riot will be part of the global Etsy Craft Party 2011 on Friday, June 10th at 7pm. Bunches of local Etsians and craft aficionados will be getting together to craft up a storm. Bags will be made from old tshirts. Jewelry will be fashioned from duct tape. Screen prints will be applied to your old duds. Food will be ingested. Drinks will be imbibed. It will be craftastic. I wish I could be there, but I'll be at The Austin Flea @ The Highball the next day, so I know I'll be preoccupied with last minute show stuff.

Etsy Craft Party 2011 from Etsy on Vimeo.

For all the deets, check out the Craft Riot's blog post.

Smartypants Repurpose

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:15:00 +0000

I finally found a solution to this project I've had sitting around for a while now. What I needed was a way to amass, store and port a large number of half inch circles of tin. Since I'm pretty sure in the course of human history I'm the only person to have ever had this need, it was pretty certain I wasn't going to find my answer at the Container Store.

You may be curious why I would need said object. Not surprisingly, it relates to work. I absolutely love making my tri-drop earrings:

but the only way I seem to be able to create them is to have lots (LOTS!) of circles out at one time. I push them around and play with different combinations until I find just the right mix. I wish it were more of a science where I could just cut six little circles and they worked together perfectly, but it isn't--and probably never will be for me.

For the longest time I just collected all the cast off half inch circles and kept them in a ziploc. When time allowed, I would dump them out onto a piece of cardboard, flip them to the printed side and play around with them until it was time to put them all back. This process was completely unfulfilling.

Months went by with this teeny frustration popping in and out of my consciousness. I'd work on it for a bit thinkering of my ultimate solution and the various steps involved to create some sort of prototype. Top priority--they needed to stay on a board face up. That was my one big desire. Flipping them all to their correct side each time was just a boring time-suck. I thought about taking cardboard and laminating one side with double sided, low-tack tape. That seemed like a good idea for a while, but then as I thought about it some more, it occurred to me that tape sticks to everything--not just the intended little metal circles. That made the idea much less appealing, but my brain couldn't seem to drop the tape idea, so I set the problem aside for a while in order to clear the mental decks.

Of course, it's impossible to totally clear the mental decks and as annoying as that can be in some moments, I really love the fact that brains are always working. Even when you think it's not or when you think you've exhausted your ability on any given task, BAM!, you'll be bent over fishing laundry out of the dryer and the answer to the meaning of life will just hit you. Well, it wasn't the meaning of life, but it was the obvious answer to my problem--magnets. And when I say obvious, those of you who have ever been to one of my shows know how obvious this answer should have been to me. So I guess this simultaneously illustrates one of the downside to brains. Even though they are really fantabulous, they often miss what's right in front of them. (I'm sure the brains blame the eyes.)

Since I work with tin, I often use all sorts of magnets in my displays. I use teeny-tiny magnets to make my cocktail rings stand up. I add metal bars underneath my table coverings and use magnets to attach carded jewelry to them. I have metal wall panels and drape long necklaces around a couple of large magnets to simulate how they would hang around someone's neck. It's crazy how many magnets I use, yet it took months for my brain to transfer that knowledge to this problem.

Once I had that idea though, I was like a dog with a bone. I knew I would want sheet magnets and found lots online, but decided for my prototype I would just go to Office Max and pick up the expensive Avery printable 8.5" x 11" package of 5. I got those home, put them in an accordion file folder thingy and was pretty impressed with myself. The little circles stuck pretty well and I could flip from page to page fairly easily. This process was decidedly more fulfilling.

Yet, it still wasn't perfect. Not that I needed it to be perfect. It's not like I'm making 100 pair of tri-drop earrings a week or something. Iteration 2 functioned pretty well and would have been completely adequate, but I had this vision. Flipping pages was fine, but really, wouldn't it be WAY better if I could create a sort of book that was "bound" on one corner which would allow all the "pages" to fan out and into a circle shape? That would allow me to see all the pages at once. I knew I could go down to Don at Pat's Sheet Metal and he would cut several pieces of 9"x 12" steel to which I could then adhere the sheet magnet and assemble according to my elaborate plan. THIS would be perfect.

Except I kept getting sidetracked. Making a trip down to Pat's was just not happening. Plus, it would probably be a little pricey, which wasn't really my goal. So, even though I already had the perfect solution, my brain kept right on working on it. A couple of days ago I was heading to the thrift store to see if I could find a sports coat for my son, and the problem popped back into the front of my brain. There must be some sort of bound thing with rigid pages that I could modify to make into my Tri-drop Travel Kit. And there it was--toddler board books. I could just find an oversized one on the kids book rack and modify it to fit my needs. Perfect. After not finding a size 12 sport coat, I high-tailed it to the book section. Oversized books were separated out and I immediately spotted a few likely suspects, but as I was scanning, this book caught my eye:

I forgot to take a picture of the cover, but it is a Where The Wild Things Are jigsaw puzzle book. If you don't have kids under the age of 12, you might be saying to yourself "a jigsaw puzzle book?" For anyone with kids under the age of 12, I guarantee you've thrown out at least 3 of these in the last few years. There are a ton on the market and for some reason, people (i.e. grandparents) think they are great gifts. Which they are--until your child takes one of the puzzles out of it's page. One of the pieces invariably gets lost thereby rendering that 'page' pretty much useless.

When I saw the book I immediately realized this was exactly what I needed. Rigid pages, smartly bound and, once the puzzles were removed, perfectly inset spaces for my sheet magnets. I couldn't believe just how perfect it was. Well, except for the fact that it was also perfectly intact. It must have gotten whisked away from little Johnny before he even had the chance to lose that first piece. So ~~smart~~ sad. It's intact-ness did give me pause--I hate to disassemble perfectly good things--but sanity won out and I bought the damn thing anyway.

Once home I got right to work. Out with all the puzzles and in with the sheet magnets. I loaded up the discs and it was good to go. Now I need to find some more of these books in order to make some to hold other sorts of projects!

Fantabulous Friends

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:05:00 +0000

One aspect of my work that I really enjoy is involving others in my obsession. I don't do it on purpose, but because I'm so wild about tin in all its variety, friends and family get sucked in too. Case in point:

My friend Elena picked this up for me while she was out at Round Top. I still haven't made it out there. I'm a bit scared that I would get myself into too much trouble. And honestly, with friends finding things like this for me, there is probably no need!

As it says, this was originally a watercolor set. Apparently Elena has hung that as art (pic please, E!). She suggested I figure out a way to use this as a display piece and I'm inclined to think she's right. Though part of me would love a necklace from Space Station 7.

Spirograph

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:34:00 +0000

I seem to have a limited number of childhood memories. Truthfully, I have a limited number of memories period. I worried about this for a while, but after watching The Secret Powers of Time, a talk by Professor Philip Zimbardo, I realized I'm just a present/future thinker. I don't spend much time thinking about what's past and, consequently, I don't review the information enough to hold on to the memories.

Of the few memories of DO have, art supplies figure prominently. I think I've mentioned before that I spent hours coloring in those geometric pattern books. I also remember my Learn to Draw with John Gnagy set. Though I did spend a lot of time using the cool charcoal pencils and strange erasers, I never really learned to draw--a fact I didn't really understand until I got to college.

The other strong childhood memory I have involves the king of all all art supplies--Spirograph (which was cleverly packaged and marketed as a toy, BTW). God how I loved those plastic gears. I think I even had the deluxe set with the odd shaped pieces--one that looked like a tongue depressor, one football shaped and another that was more like a ninja star. I remember being frustrated by the usability of those weird shapes, but it didn't matter because all those circle-y ones were more than enough to hold my attention.

Now that I have kids of my own, Spirograph is back in my life. Though they show some inclination to play around with it, they by no means rise to my own Dedicated User status. Which is why I felt perfectly okay with co-opting their little set and adding it to my tool box. I'm realizing that as fun as it was to draw on paper with different colored pens, it's equally, if not more, intriguing to etch patterns into the finish on tins. It is a bit trickier, however. I have a few pieces sporting the oh-so-recognizable designs and a fair amount of tin relegated to the recycle bin. I'm hoping to get the technique down and add some more pieces over the summer.

Speaking of Spirographs, if you haven't yet caught the Human Spirograph, you may enjoy this video.

Answer to newsletter question: Hypotrochoid

Craft In America -- Featuring Thomas Mann

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:19:00 +0000

If you've not yet caught any of these Craft in America episodes on PBS, I highly recommend you check them out. Each episode is structured around a theme and the individuals profiled are given center stage. Questions are asked off camera and are unknown to the viewer, so it set me a bit off-kilter at first, but I quickly started to enjoy the effect of just hearing the artist talk about their process while watching them
work. I wish more reality TV was like this.

Tonight's episode features one of my favorite jewelry designers and artists, Thomas Mann:

"The segment of the show on Tom features New Orleans prominently as the inspirational context for his life and work. His work in sculpture and jewelry design is covered along with his studio and gallery operations at his Magazine Street location. It also follows him as he conducts a bicycle visitation of the many post-Katrina sites around the city that inspired the pieces in his traveling exhibition STORM CYCLE. Video clips of this portion of the segment and more are also posted on PBS.org."

CRAFT IN AMERICA: MESSAGES
Tuesday, May 24, 8PM (Check local listings or PBS website for exact time.)

How To Tie Your Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:16:00 +0000

Seriously thought I had this one down. Yet again, I learn just how much I don't know. Be honest, did YOU know this already?

Fun Stuff in Austin This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:12:00 +0000

No surprise that there's lots of stuff going on in Austin this weekend. There's pretty much always something cool to be had on any given day in this town, but this weekend there are a couple of events that may be of particular interest.

NO. 1
The Renegade Craft Fair
Back for a second year, the Renegade will take over the Palmer Events Center both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. I made it down to last year's event and am curious to see it's second ATX incarnation. I have definite opinions about last year's show and am curious to see the second ATX incarnation. With about 200 vendors, it might be helpful to do a little pre-planning. Here are a few of my favorites:

My absolute favorite vendor from last year's show--Fernworks.

Of course, Victrola rocks.

Squid Ink Kollective creates tees that make you go hmmm. And really, where else can you find Squid Linens?

If you need some fab clothes for the kids, Baby Bolt is your go-to gal.

Linda Ketelhut's work is new to me, but from the look of her Etsy shop, I definitely need to stop by her booth.

There's plenty more greatness to be had, so be sure to stop by the PEC either day this weekend between 11 am and 7 pm.

NO. 2

Gallery Black Lagoon Accessories Trunk Show

If you're not inclined to wade through the over 200 vendors at Renegade, maybe this simple and focused little event is more your speed. The Gallery Black Lagoon is a great space which the new owners have kept hopping since they opened. This show features 10 of Austin's most loved designers and artists as well as live music, libations, feather extensions and henna & body painting. Is that an Austin event, or what?!

Ooops. Forgot the Give Away

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Wed, 18 May 2011 03:08:00 +0000

I guess some of you have been wondering who the heck won the instant collection of cool vintage swizzle sticks. Wonder no more. Congratulations, Katja.

Upcycled Couches

noreply@blogger.com (adaptive reuse) — Tue, 17 May 2011 05:26:00 +0000

When you live in a city there is no end to the number of dumpster couches. It's always been a curiosity to me that they actually disappear. Where do they go? To the land of the missing socks? I finally have a possible explanation for the mystery. Maybe it's the Poketo elves at work in the dark of night. If so, I want to be a Poketo elf because these wallets are made from fancier couches than I normally see on the curb.

From Ecouterre