Art & Sustainability

You might not think that sustainability and art can go hand in hand. Think again and it can and has been happening in the art world for a good ten years or more.

My take on it: you can use creativity with materials you might have thrown out or recycled (including wish-cycled) to make new art  is a worthwhile endeavor and adventure.

I started experimenting with recycled sustainable art back in 2016. As an avid wine drinker, I found out that the world cork supply was dwindling. You see, most cork trees are grown in Portugal, followed by Spain and a few other Mediterranean countries.

The increase in wine production along with a funghi that killed off a sizable amount of cork trees 20 years ago led to a decrease in the world cork supply. Other materials needed to be used for cork stoppers.

The  screw top wine style and plastic stoppers started  a new trend. Of course, plastic is a related topic  since  plastic microcrystals are now in out water and ground supply.

Using Corks in Artwork

I started saving the corks from my wine bottles which started to amass to a big collection. I wanted to do something with them. I stated  gluing corks to canvases and painting  both the canvas and corks.

While I started in a restrained  way, I went all out with a big buildup of corks that made a 3D sculptural painting with brilliant  strokes and splashes of reds, oranges and yellow.

This culmination or corks on canvas led to the painting you see here, Orange Delight, that was exhibited in 2019 in Santa Monica, CA. That was the first time I  had my art  included in the Spectrum Exhibit at bG Gallery.

Four on my paintings were included in the juried show and my cork painting got the most curiosity and attention.

I’ve continued by painting indivdual corks with  leftover paint- which happens at the end of a  painting session, when a small amount of paint is still on the palette. Some are repurposed in recycled jars, a lively decoration. I also add them to planters. Why not! Stay tuned for more photos coming of my recycled, sustainable art.

Hand Painted Sustainable, Recycled Apparel

In addition to repurposing corks from wine bottles, I also hand paint pre-loved, sustainable, recycled clothing. Starting with denim jackets and shirts that are like new, from thrift stores, I handpaint each individual item. The ones available in my online shop are from my “Gold Series,” featuring gold metallic and white pearlized paint.
See hand painted clothes >