Oh those Japanese. Can you imagine sitting there with 138,000 recycled metro tickets and making the above piece of art? Pretty dang impressive if you ask me.

Check it out: The 10 x 7ft mural (shown above) is a part of a temporary installation to celebrate the opening of Tokyo’s new Fukutoshin subway line.

I’ve never been to Tokyo but it sounds cool already.

As reported by PinkTentacle, “Created by volunteers from Takashimaya and other Shinjuku-area businesses, the work depicts Astro Boy, Uran, Professor Ochanomizu and Higeoyaji (Mr. Mustachio) in Shinjuku along with the new Fukutoshin train.”

More of an up close and personal view. I’m starting to see numbers…

Now I see it. Uy Vey. My grandmother would be impressed with this one. Me too.

I had the pleasure of attending the fabulous and stylish ‘rubbish meets couture’ Junk to Funk 2008. What a night of extravaganza MC’d by Portland’s mayor-elect Sam Adams and Tara from 94.7 fm radio.

Once a year, the Junk to Funk Recycled Fashion Show Contest, produced by Elysium Events is created to showcase wearable art based on the creative use of “trash.” These pieces of wearable art and fashion are based upon found objects, recycled materials, and items that would typically be sent to the landfill.

Dress for the Queen of Clubs, (shown above) and designed by China Hamilton was created with shopping bags, kitchen drawer lining, automotive pin striping, discarded tubing, old packaging foam and stockings made out of shower puffs.

This wonderful gown Zippidy Doo Da, was created and modeled by Ruth Waddy. The dress, made out of zippers, and re-used plastic bubble wrap was awarded third place.

Madame Bottle Fly, designed (and modeled) by Emie Otis of Beauty Mark Designs, was made with over 600 bottle caps attached to a delicate wire frame (made out of over 30 wire hangers) weighing in at 45 pounds, and demanding over nearly 450 hours of work. What a gorgeous work of wearable art. read the rest of this entry »

What caught my attention upon visiting jewelry artist Toby Pomeroy’s website was the following quote by the artist (shown at right):

I have two purposes in life: people recognizing their own magnificence and leaving our planet more beautiful, diverse and sustainable than it was when we found it.

Inspiring

Yes indeed with a refreshing ring of authenticity. Upon further investigation, I discovered that Toby, who grew up in the foothills of Himalaya, and who now lives and works in Corvallis, Oregon, has been working with jewelry and metals for the past 30 years, and offers a gorgeous line of silver, gold and diamond jewelry that are hand-made out of 100% recycled metals and conflict-free diamonds. More importantly, however, Toby was the first to convince a major metal supplier to go green.

More details

Conflicted by the intolerable impacts of conventional precious metals mining, Toby asked the nation’s largest gold supplier and refiner if they would provide pure gold and silver derived entirely from reclaimed sources. They agreed, and this ground-breaking initiative (meaning Toby was the first one to do it), became the artist’s source for 100% reclaimed gold and silver.

Toby Pomeroy’s signature Eco-Silver Hoop Earrings (shown above) retail for $135. The attention to detail is impeccable (simple, yet elegant) and perfect for a fabulous gown or a t-shirt and jeans. No two are the same. Each one is hand forged.

I was curious about Toby, his work and wanted to learn more about his philosophy of contributing to a better world through his art. He graciously agreed to this interview:

Cheryl: When did you first know that you wanted to use your hands to make objects of art and what experiences as a child growing up in the Himalayas propelled you into manifesting your dream?

Toby: When I was 6 years old, I spent five years in Missourie, India at Woodstock School - an internationally well-known boarding school. I was deeply influenced by the magical landscape of the forest reserve, where no cars or bicycles existed, and where leopards and an abundance of butterflies roamed freely.  Adventure and love of the earth just became a part of me.

In my last quarter of college, while studying Pre-Med at the University of Oregon, I heard about this jewelry making class, and petitioned to take it. The instructor was great. I found myself creating and designing something with my hands, and to my surprise, it had a profound effect on me. It was like a meditation that brought me a peace that I hadn’t really known before. Long story short, I never went back to Genetics, Calculus, and other science related classes. I had a key to the jewelry lab, and I threw myself into jewelry design. I found my passion.

Cheryl: Can you talk about your commitment to sustainability, concern for the environment and how you got the world’s largest supplier of gold to contribute recycled metals?

Toby: I lived in one of the most magical places on the planet (in India) where monkeys and butterflies of all hue and size floated around me daily. Stag Beetles, would purr (like a cat), when humans would pet its deep cherry wing covers, which measured 2.5 inches long. The world was filled with an affluent and robust life force.

I cherish our world, and I’m aware (through studying biology) of the fragile intricate biosphere of our planet. When we kill off our insects we are all affected. Albert Eienstein once said, “When the honey bees die, humans will die.” Awareness that we have a jewel (our planet) and it is not only our responsibility to preserve Her, but also to restore Her. If we don’t, we are creating a poisonous cestpool for our offspring.

I was aware that mining practices were not earth friendly, but decided to do some further research in 2004, and discovered that metal mining is actually very harmful to the environment, a nasty process, and produces more seven times more solid waste.

I called Tory Hoover, the president of precious metal refiner (and our supplier) Hoover and Strong and asked if the company would you be willing to just keep their scrap (that come in from electronics, the dental industry and jewelry) separate it, purify it, and take it back to 24K gold and silver, They have a great system to refine and purify then metals, and re-alloy it with reclaimed copper, silver, zinc, and those metals that make it durable and give it color.

They charged me a small premium for it and within two weeks I received my first batch of reclaimed metals. It was also great for H&S, because they could now tell their buyers that they had product with no environmental, or social impact.  We got them started, but now their business has shifted to 100% reclaimed metals. They have re-branded themselves to Harmony, Precious Metals and Gems and have been extremely successful. read the rest of this entry »

In the latest issue of American Craft, I was delighted to find a short article about a group of creative Midwesterners re-thinking how to use one of the most available materials in Detroit – the “ghetto palm.”

I admit that over the years I have uttered an unsavory word over this particular plant known as Ailanthus altissima, which seems to always create some kind of inconvenience when it appears in the corner of your yard or in the middle of a beautiful bed of Daylilies.

I’m always intrigued when someone is able to unravel one of my long-standing notions of value, and the Detroit Tree of Heaven Woodshop has spun my way of looking at the “ghetto palm”  on its head.

The concept behind this ingenuitive group of artists and researchers is to re-imagine the potential for a much undervalued and overlooked raw material. The “ghetto palm” has been known to infiltrate inner cities in a weed-like fashion, and its abundance inspired founders Mitchell Cope, Ingo Vetter, and Annette Weisser to find ways to process this medium and use it in furniture and vessels.

Since 2005, the Tree of Heaven Woodshop has been steadily re-fashioning how we think about wood as a raw material and its relationship to our inner cities.

One begins to wonder if there is something else right under our noses, and all that is necessary is to observe with a new sense of awareness.

To learn more about the process, see exhibitions, and find connections visit the website, www.treeofheavenwoodshop.com.

Once upon a recent time in the magical land of twinkly Montreal, Canada, a high end furniture store named Domison opened its doors to the public (in June ‘08) and that year for Christmas, commissioned Paprika to design their window display and voilà; the designers came up with The Ice Christmas Tree (above) made out of re-purposed mineral water bottles. How very elegant, indeed and appropriate for that very cold and spectacular winter city.

A close up view of the bottles reveals Domison’s organic logo which is a Gingko leaf. What a magical way to celebrate the holidays.

Domison up close and personal:

For more on the store and their furniture line, visit the website www.domison.com.