More Scarves

All my scarves have pockets. (So far)

Where are the pockets on this one?

Oh, Here they are.

I like birds.

This one has itty bitty feet.

I am currently making three more. All scarves are made from recycled materials.

Odds & Ends

"I Shut My Eyes" This piece hangs over my livingroom fireplace. The picture is on an old piece of wood, contains copper wallpaper, some magazine images for a 1930's Vogue and a poem that I wrote myself about connecting with my imagination and creativity.

An old evening bag that I added vintage buttons to as well as a braided strap of ribbons. The board it hangs from is an old table insert that has hooks I've collected over the years and an old glass door knob.

"Seasons" I painted this folkart on the back of a solid wood drawer front.

"Rebirth" An old wood carton, found pieces of glass, old glass bottle, old railroad nails, wire, little bitty old light bulbs. The poem reads

Shattered memories

Broken Dreams

Strewn over

The land

Soiled

Tarnished

Waiting

For

Rebirth

Some past creations...

Letters cut from a graphic arts magazine are my leaves in this picture titled, "I Am".

A homemade postcard.

An old window frame became a postcard holder.

Phony Flowers

These "Phony Flowers" are made from telephone book pages, wire, & glass beads. I haven't figured out how to photograph them very well.

The white pages.

The yellow pages.

Wovely Woolies

Here are some examples of my latest passion of taking old 100% wool sweaters and recycling them into something new.

Wovely Wooly Scarves!

I sent this one to my mother in Minnesota.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

I made this last winter. I used acrylic paints, texturing medium, old copper wallpaper, magazine pages, scrabble tiles, beads...

Welcome to ArtCycle!

I was born into a very practical, Scandinavian farming community in Northern Minnesota. Creativity was admired and nurtured as long as whatever was produced was useful to daily life. This included sewing, rug making, crocheting, embroidery…that sort of thing. If you could take something old & worn out and make something useful out of it, well then that was doubly wonderful! My grandma Lily Peterson was known for making flesh-toned, handwoven rugs out of old pantyhose! They weren’t much to look at, but they sure were durable, springy and helped keep the floors clean.

Throughout the years, my artwork has reflected my life’s origins. I enjoy working with a wide variety of media while also incorporating traditional folkart skills into the finished creations. Recycling discarded items into art is super fun and exciting for me. "Creative Bliss" is defined for me when I’m resurrecting tired, old furniture into colorful “floor art”, using antique buttons, photos or puzzle pieces in a painting, using old wool sweaters to make artsy scarves, or taking computer memory boards and adhering them unto old cabinet doors where they are then painted and become “wall art”. If something sparks my interest...say an unusual relic, a piece of trash, discarded clothing, old phonebook pages, a funky old purse, then it's fair game for a future art piece.

I am also a performance artist who is currently the storyteller in residence for the Dallas Museum of Art. I also do concerts/programs for local libraries and festivals here in Texas, Louisiana and in Florida. My visual art creations often reflect my love of world folklore & stories. Often the observer will find words, sayings and poems in them. Sometimes a story inspires the artwork, but more often, a story is born upon it's completion when I see where my subconscious as led me.

This blog has been created to showcase my visual art projects. Because I always use recycled materials in my work I have titled this blog "ArtCycle!"

Welcome.