Some years ago, I visited a woman who made art from found objects. In her medicine cabinet, she had rows of different colored bottles with marbles on top. Sitting on her shelves and hanging on her walls were beautiful, colorful, sparkly creations. Everywhere I looked, I saw art made from objects that had been lost, thrown away, or forgotten by other people.
Friday morning, I was thinking about this woman on my way to the library, daydreaming about how fun it would be to make art objects like she did. As I was walking along, I looked down, and there on the ground was a small, beautiful beaded earring! So I picked it up and realized that I had begun. On my way home, I bought some wire and a pair of wire cutters at the hardware store and started getting excited about all the things I could make.
Later, I gathered some old beaded decorations that my daughter and I had made long ago. They were all tangled up and packed in a box in our garage. While I was there, I noticed a small organizer box with clear plastic drawers. We’d found it at the transfer station a couple of years ago, but had never used it. After I brought the box and the beads into the house, I started collecting old spoons we no longer use and some earrings, rings, and bracelets I no longer wear. After several trips, I got everything into my loft, where I spent a good hour or two unstringing the beads and organizing everything into the little drawers. Such bliss!
On Saturday morning, I woke up before dawn, thinking about what to make out of everything and how to go about it. I couldn’t shake all my ideas and go back to sleep, so I went up to my loft and began. I love hanging objects, especially mobiles and wind chimes, so I started making a mobile. Several hours later, here was my first creation:
The colors sparkle in the sunlight from my skylight, and when you spin it, the spoons all splay outward to very nice effect:
After taking a walk, I decided to make a second mobile. This one was made from two ankle bracelets my daughter had given me, a charm bracelet, several old pairs of earrings, the earring I found yesterday (of course), and a really cool marble pendant. I was going for the effect of a crown. The piece might be finished at this stage, but I’m not sure. I’m thinking that I might add something to the wires on top:
Working with my hands seems to bring all my senses into harmony. I felt great yesterday, just as I did last Sunday, when Bob and I made the hamentashen and rugelach. I felt grounded in my body, with a fullness of energy and happiness that I haven’t felt since I was a kid.
Maybe I should skip the OT visits and just do art? (Kidding. My first appointment is tomorrow.
© 2009 by Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg
That is really cool!!!
You know, I haven’t always felt this way, but recently I’ve started to realize that making things with my hands (or otherwise) is really grounding.
I think repurposing stuff makes your projects especially cool!
I love reading your blog and this entry is especially inspiring! Thank you for sharing your stories with the world.
i have several found-object ideas pootering around in my head, for years. most of them involve rows and rows of….stuff, big surprise.
keep it up! making stuff, whatever it is, can be many things, including therapeutic, energetic, de-stressing, and lights up all sorts of cool parts of the brain.
Yes! Doing these art projects, I could feel parts of my brain lighting up that hadn’t been used for years. It was even better than looking at a full-spectrum lamp in the dead of winter.
And I love repurposing stuff. I am a born scavenger. I have gotten so many neat things from free boxes, tag sales, and thrift stores. Turning found objects into art is such a natural fit that I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to to do it.
Very Dada-ist. Like Marcel Duchamp’s sculptures.