Recycled Instruments - Repurposing a broken piano

Update on the piano deconstruction. A friend who empties abandoned homes has given us three pianos (so far). They were on their way to the dump.

Francois asked about the first one, saying he'd like to take it to use its parts. Our neighbor was more than happy for him to take it!

Two of the pianos were beyond repair. The third we're still evaluating though it's in pretty bad shape.

We've harvested the wood from the first two destroyed pianos.

It's already been used for shelves and it's slated for other purposes.

There isn't a manual on deconstructing an old, dilapidated piano.

At the time we were tearing these apart, Francois had a master plan for the harps of the pianos and he set it into action right away.

First their insides had to be exposed. Which saw, which chisels and mallets would be best to cut through and remove what was left of the wooden soundboard?

Dr. Frankenstein was in the house!

As a long-time woodworker and furniture maker as well as being a luthier (guitar maker) -- now working with apprentices on ukuleles, he's not at a loss for tools.

I don't remember how many different types of saws were used!

We haven't received a piano yet that's had real ivory keys on the keyboard.

I make jewelry and Francois would like to use them for inlay on his instruments, they wouldn't go to waste.

Regardless, when you recycle instruments, there are many parts you can find to use for jewelry, artwork and other creative endeavors. Don't ever pass up something that may be repurposed.

On a side note, a while back we were able to donate some instruments we hadn't played in a while to a high school music teacher.

There are so many cuts to funding to arts programs in schools. If you have anything gathering dust in a closet or attic, think about how someone else may be able to use something that you have.

Every neighbor within a ten mile radius must've heard the GONG! sound as we hit the metal harp in attempts to remove the last pieces of wood.

Francois had been using salvaged wood already in his instruments and furniture pieces, so this was something he was used to doing.

He likes the challenge of taking someone's unusually shaped scrap pieces and forming them into one of his skinny leg tables, for instance.

His repurposed furniture, including parts of a once sad old piano, will probably have really good karma. :-)

The hammers are stained and, like the keys themselves, some were broken off completely.

The harps from the pianos have been used in our garden, per his master plan. You'll need a pal to help in moving the heavy metal harp into place.

One of the harps is for peas to climb. The other (from the player piano) is covered with climbing tomato vines.The player piano's harp is more square shaped and even this late in the season it's still virtually covered by vines.

For the first episode of the piano deconstruction, see Taking apart a piano: Harvesting the Harp, an earlier post.

 
Don't Fret I'm a Trained Luthier Apron
T-Shirt available, Add your name
Luthier Guitar Builder T-Shirts : Shop Hat & Aprons : Customizable Gifts for Guitar Builders, Musicians & Players

Upcoming: Photos & Post about the Ukulele Adventure. The making of a ukulele. A bunch of folks, a bunch of ukes in production. There's talk of a new Ukulele Orchestra in the end. Will it happen? We'll see.....

Piano Harp in the Garden

Crafts San Jose : Button Crafts : A Work of Heart

Is there someone who really knows how to push your buttons?? They say the reason our Mom knows how is because she's the one who sewed them on in the first place.

I'm a big button fanatic and am looking forward to visiting A Work of Heart. 

If you can't make it to the workshop, Button Bracelet Jewelry Kits are available online. There are many ways to make the bracelets. The Charm Bracelet Jewelry Kit incorporates Mother of Pearl buttons. The Precious Pearls Necklace Bracelet Comboat top is inspirational. It's by Grandmother's Buttons.

Try a book on Making Button Jewelry, there's a lot of variety available. Button Jewelry & Accessories: 22 Unique Projects has been on my shelf for years. It covers accessories, too including statement rings. Pretty cool that it's out in a version for Kindle e-readers now.

A Work of Heart has week-long kids' camps over the summer months. Check to see which camps still have spots available and what your children may like. There's even one for creative writing. You'll see some of them listed on our Non-traditional camps in the bay area page.

They're located at 2196 Lincoln Ave. across the street from the Senior Center, just north of Elva's Coffee Shop.

Any artist or crafter will appreciate their blog which is beautiful and informative, definitely worth a click.

The shop is closed in early July so get in there and have fun while you can. After that, check out the variety of hot and exciting arts and crafts that are offered.

Buttons are symbolic, they're nostalgic and they're very green and eco-friendly to use in craft and art. Upcycle buttons from your family's clothes. Mother's coat. The kids' old baby clothes. Can you make a cha-cha bracelet from buttons. I sure hope so!

Taking apart a piano : Harvesting the Harp : Photo Tuesday

Deconstructing the remains of a piano. A neighbor was hauling part of an old, beat-up baby grand piano to the dump.

Francois asked if he could have it and now we have a great project for recycling, upcycling, new music, art and jewelry projects. 

The garden will get a piece, too.

First is the instrument autopsy.  The job sounded like we were hitting harps and piano keyboards with hammers, just resounding. Echoes.  

Awesome, in the truest sense of the word. We really wondered what the neighbors thought. Piano abuse? The folks who got to it before we did were guilty of that if anyone, I guess.

As Francois is an experienced woodworker, furniture and guitar builder, the deconstruction of the old piano has been an interesting process. 

The goal is to save as much of the whole, the wood, the keys, whatever is left, in tact as we can.

Marlene Dietrich
Instruments Everywhere
8x10 Photo
(Looks like an accordion)

We'll be posting more photos and information. There's something magical about using musical instrument parts in upcycled art and jewelry.

Saving the instrument itself was not an option.

For an update on the project please see the post, Recycled Instruments, Repurposing a Broken Piano.

Discarded to Divine fashion San Francisco April 2010

I spent a large amount of this morning cleaning out drawers & closets. I pulled out clothes and shoes, bagging and boxing them up for Goodwill. 

I cringe as I part with some of the items. Some have sentimental value. Some I have to admit these hips will probably never squeeze into again and even if I did, would they be my style? So the too-small, the -- ahem -- too-big and as many more that I can are folded and bagged for those who can use them. 

I like to always advertise fashion shows with recycled, upcycled clothing. The Discarded to Divine show will be April 29th in San Francisco. 

Donated items, some of them damaged, are given to fashion designers who create new garments. These pieces are then auctioned off to raise money for the homeless. 

If you have the chance, please go and support these artists and this cause. The outfits are extraordinary and it's very inspirational.

Slash: Paper Under the Knife, International Paper Art Exhibition

I've always been interested in and amazed by the art that people create with paper. The Museum of Arts and Design in New York has had some brilliant exhibits and its current show is called Slash: Paper Under the Knife. The exhibit runs through April 14, 2010.

The artists are international and the techniques are delightfully varied. The types of paper as well as the techniques used are often as meaningful as the finished works themselves. (Image to left by Andrea Dezsö)

Image at right is Célio Braga's Placebos. These garlands were cut from the papers that come from prescription drugs. From Braga's web site:

"I use a variety of techniques involving a constant process of cutting, perforating, rearranging, assembling, destroying and mending
papers, textiles, wax and photographs. The works are often bold and melodramatic, sometimes silent, but always in searching of a balance between excess and austerity."

When you tear up that old love letter, that parking ticket, that photo of the damned so-and-so....

Consider taking back some power over some of tons of paper in our lives, that rejection note, that 'good luck in the future' letter or anything that unfortunately says your test results are positive. Next time why not consider slaying it as it tries to slay us?

There are personal rituals that involve paper. Tearing, discarding or safely burning paper has been a part of certain rituals for a long time. When would you create art from the paper vs. burn it vs toss it into the winds?

Artist Oliver Herring has created Alex, a sculpture out of digital c-print photographs, museum board, foam core, and polystyrene. The subject was photographed, the photos cut up and then reworked like an almost kaleidoscopic puzzle of the original subject to create the sculpture.  Herring has done other works such as Wade.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has an archived interview in their group of podcasts available on MP3. It's called A Conversation with Oliver Herring and is from 2007.

Carlos Amorales' Black Cloud is actually an installation piece consisting of moths, but as a large group, it has a plague-like, ominous quality. It's a swarm. An April 2008 edition of ArtBlog has a very good article on the piece.

Andrea Dezso's Tunnel Books are part of the exhibit and were featured this month at the museum. Her work is intricate and enthralling and many tell stories. (see top of page)

At the gallery's web site, I like to download the Teacher Resource Packet. A lot of galleries kindly make them available to the general online public and they're very informative and thought provoking. It's worth a visit to the site even if you can't make it to the actual exhibition.

Images from the artists' respective web sites, links given

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Portraits Done in Unconventional Materials: Your Face Can Stand Out in the Crowd

Have you ever had your portrait done? Artists are creating portraits in materials other than or along with paint and any time I see artwork created in unconventional materials, I want to hear more. That's an artist to keep your eye on.  (Image at left from CadiGirlDesigns, Etsy)

This is another installment in my Anatomical Art series. If we must be specific, let's say it's about faces, 3-D portraits. These offer up interesting textures and often fascinating feats of construction as well as eliciting double-takes from the viewer. Some artists go for realism while others are more a caricature.

Lisa Kokin is an artist whose work I've been wanting to talk about for a while. I like buttons, partly for their diversity of material and form and partly for their history. Kokin is so creative using them in amazing portraits. (see image below, from her web site.)

"My work has always had an obsessive quality and this body of work is no exception. Every button is stitched to its neighbor to form a low-tech pixilated composition. 

"Up close each piece is an abstract melange of colors and shapes; the further back one stands the more decipherable the image becomes. This interplay between abstraction and representation intrigues me. 

"It is as though I am painting with buttons, building my palette as I go along, adding and subtracting until the interplay of colors and forms coalesces into a coherent image." -- from Lisa Kokin's web site

Among Sally Heller's artworks are portraits of pinup girls created with acrylic fingernails. I featured Heller in my post on fingernail art a while back.

Betty Milliken uses materials such as chewing gum, caulking compound and dried grapefruit peel in her portraits. There's an online tutorial, The Chewing Gum Portrait Project. You, too can be unconventional.

Jo Hamilton's crochet work includes portraits that she's made by turning photographs of people's faces into fiber. She also stitches colorful 3-D distorted cityscapes incorporating fibers of different types. (Jo Hamilton's work above)

Artist Michael Murphy mixes manure with paint for his portraits of some public figures including politicians.  Murphy's work appears to be bi-partisan.

In 2009, an exhibit called Faces: Chuck Close and Contemporary Portraiture as at the Nevada Museum of Art. 
Can a face tell a story?

On Etsy you'll find artists who make custom portraits in different materials.

At Papercutsbyjoe's shop there is an 8x10 Custom Paper Silhouette Portrait.

zJayne offers an ACEO Copper Collage custom made for you. (left)

A portrait/fiber art piece consisting velvet and decorator fabric on a burlap backing is at CadiGirlDesigns.

For those of you who are into cross stitch, visit Weesandy. You can get a custom Cross Stitch Pattern from something like a photo or your child's artwork.

Moonikins can create a 3-D portrait of your pet on a wooden magnet or keychain. A portion of sale is donated to AHS.

So don't keep your good-looking face in a jar by the door. Get an unconventional portrait made. Or try your hand at creating one yourself. I'll bet you've got some materials handy right now.


Like the other installments in the Anatomical Art series this portrait post just skims the surface and may well have a sequel in the future.

 

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Green Art, Recycled Art Shows : One man's trash may be an artist's treasure

Have you attended a Recycled Art Show lately? Have you submitted a piece to a show? 

Does the current economy have artists rethinking what materials you use or re-use?

It seems we're seeing more and more Recycled Art and Fashion/Trashion Shows. It's all good. Maybe you'd like to attend one, donate to the cause or hold your own. Looks like it's a trend with schools and social groups.

In April around Earth Day, I had a post listing some of the Recycled Fashion Shows that were held earlier in the year. I'm mostly hearing about US shows and would love to be able to mention some in other parts of the world.

Let us know of any more art or fashion shows that we can add to the list. Recycled art means different things to different people, and that can make for an interesting variety, but it all comes down to the same ethic of saving our resources and changing our habits. Just think, Etsy considers 20-year-old items to be vintage. *A few of the links below are flyers of brochures in PDF form.

Nov. 10: Recycled - An Art Show at The Times Square. The Mezzanine Gallery in New York, NY. Runs through Jan. 29, 2010.

Nov. 12: final day: A Recycled Art & Auction will be held in Baton Rouge, LA. Proceeds supporting the construction of affordable housing.

Nov. 13: Steven Dobbin's latest series, Reclamation is in response to the increasing costs of materials typically used to create artworks. The show is at Causey Contemporary in Brooklyn, NY.

Nov. 13-15: The Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival in its eleventh year. "In cooperation with Keep Santa Fe Beautiful and their recycling efforts surrounding America Recycles 2009 and New Mexico Recycling Awareness Month, Recycle Santa Fe is one of the hippest, eco-conscious art markets and juried art events of its time." 

Nov. 13-15: Upper Arkansas Area Recycling Art Show. A non-juried art exhibit showing how art & inspiration can bring new life to trash.

Nov. 14: The fourth annual Junk to Funk Recycled Fashion Show Contest “Trashion Edutainment for the Masses” will be held in Portland, OR's Crystal Ballroom.

Nov. 16: Away and Back Again-Community Recycle Art Project.  "Join us as we utilize recycled detritus, trash to create beautiful artwork." Visitors are encouraged to participate in the creation of a large mandala with the use of recycled materials on the floor of the FedEx Global Education Center Peacock Atrium. Through Dec. 18, Chapel Hill, NC. (image above)

11/20: Charles County’s got Talent in the Arts Show and Recycle Art Contest. Indian Head, MD. Come & show them what you've got!

12/01: Ivy Tech Community College will present its third annual Recycled Art Show. Terre Haute, Indiana. Anyone wanting more information about the show may call 812-298-2227.

12/01-02: Recycled Materials Art Show #2. Re-Art Gallery in Ann Arbor, MI.

12/01-12/31: Recycled Seconds Art Show: Carson City, NV, at the Capital City Arts Initiative Courthouse Gallery 

12/11/2009-01/29/2010: ReVisions, New Creations from Scrap : San Francisco, CA.

For one source of information and inspiration, keep your eye on the Olympia Dumpster Divers Blog. "This ReUsable Life: recycled art in Olympia, the Pacific Northwest, the USA and around the world."

August, October 2010: The Artist in Residence Program at the San Francisco Dump is accepting applications through the end of August 2010. Only artists living in San Francisco may apply.

2nd Annual Recycled Art Contest: The Virginia Beach SPCA will be hosting our 2nd Annual Once is Not Enough Art Contest to promote the creative reuse of materials. Interested artists should review the rules and  submit their entry no later than October 1st.

We are not associated with any of the events listed. Information is always as accurate as possible at the time gathered

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Dahling, Morticia and Gomez deserve a hand...

They're a lovely couple, married for years and still so mad for each other. They have many of the usual stresses people deal with. Raising children, a home to keep up, roles in the community (real or imagined) to maintain.

Their appearance is important to them. They're happy to have extended family and friends in their home. They have pets who they love and care for, including a meat-eating plant. Of course, we're talking about Gomez and Morticia Addams.

This couple has been played, or voiced, by several incarnations of actors throughout the years.

Maybe the best known are the characters from the television show and films. The 1964-66 TV series was John Astin as Gomez and Carolyn Jones as Morticia.

The Addams Chronicles: An Altogether Ooky Look at The Addams Family is a fun book with lots of information, photos and other goodies.

Raúl Juliá was Gomez in two of the films, The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993). Anjelica Huston was Morticia to his Gomez.

The films are available on DVD. Addams Family Values is on Amazon.com and elsewhere.

Gomez in The Addams Family Reunion (1998) was Tim Curry. Morticia here was none other than Daryl Hannah.

Also in 1998-99, there was a television Addams Family with Glenn Taranto and Ellie Harvie in the roles.

A Broadway musical is about to open for previews in Chicago. Gomez is played by Nathan Lane and Morticia is Bebe Neuwirth.

There was more than one animated series along the way, and we can't forget that it all began with the books by Charles Addams. A selection of Addams framed cartoon works are on exhibit. Charles Addams: Cartoonist runs through January 2010 at The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT.

Do you have a favorite Gomez and Morticia?

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Images: Sitcoms Online and Fanpop.com (above)

Anatomical Hearts: The beat goes on in art and craft

We heart art and crafts. The art world isn't squeamish about showing off the

Vintage Heart Illustration Pillow

inner workings of what makes them tick. Illustrators have been working in the art of medicine since at least the time of Leonardo da Vinci's Anatomical Drawing of Hearts and Blood Vessels.


You may have heard about the Slow Food movement. A Smart Art movement is bubbling up as well. There are puzzles, plush toys and a lot more that are totally or partly for the purposes of teaching. They help us learn about the workings of, in this case, the human heart. 

Heartland, The California Museum of the Heart
in Rancho Mirage is an interactive voyage towards heart health. You can actually walk through a large-scale model of the heart. This includes a textured wall which shows components of human blood. By touching a button, visitors can light up the various cells and hear about their form and fucntion.  

Artists and crafters are inspired by this human organ perhaps above all due to the vital role it plays in the body and its symbolic significance. 

Lyndie Dourthe's Boutique is in France, and it has an online presence as well.  Among the items available are intricately sewn anatomies, including eyes, ears, an open mouth complete with tongue and teeth and an assortment of hearts.

Are you homeschooling your kids or running a daycare facility? Maybe you'd like to help out a teacher. There are budget friendly heart models available. Human Anatomy - Heart

You can turn on your own heart light with a big-hearted designer's shade I love / I heart heart anatomy Hanging Pendant Lamps (above) or start from scratch on your own. 

Would you could you if you could use heart-shaped soap, chocolate molds??

Anatomical Heart Watch Sleek has many options on style and color
For Heart Health awareness
by ManhattanDaisyDesign
View additional Wristwatches

You can get your company logo imprinted on them and hand them out at your next event. Just picture it -- you're on edge, time is short, fingers are aching from too much keyboarding. You end up squeezing a ball that's in the shape of a human heart in your fist. Memorable.

Queen of Hearts Necklace by dianalevinart

For your favorite tattoo artist, the one who's a survivor, a med student, an artist.



I Heart Guts is "the brainchild of an anatomically obsessed illustrator who loves internal organs and all they do."

Information on heart health is available from many sources. Here it is from WebMD and The American Heart Association.

Here are a couple of organizations dealing with organ donation. Some of the other sites I visited offer links of this kind, and I think it's a good idea to consider.

Gummi Bears: The Colorful and Tasty Artists' Muse

If you're a fan of Gummies, you know it. No one has to tell you. 

Actual chocolate-covered Gummi Bears sound good? Milk Chocolate Covered Gummy Bears (1 Pound Bag) Yum!

Back in early June, I covered the opening of a Palo Alto, CA art show where I saw some Gummi Bear paintings done by the artist, Jeanne Vadeboncoeur. Little did I know at the time the important role that candy, and specifically Gummi Bears played in the art world. Sticky subject, indeed. 

If you've always wondered what's inside a Gummi, but didn't know who to ask, Jason Freeny of Moist Productions is here to make it scientifically clear with the Gummi Anatomie chart.

Maybe the most prolific artist I've found who incorporates Gummi Bears themselves into a series of impressive variety of sculpture is YaYa Chou. She has a Gummi Bear Rug and her Gummi Chandelier (above) is from 2005.

From her statement: "In this series, I explored the relationship between food consumption and class. The bright colors and soft texture of children's snacks construct a romantic scenario which draws my attention to the dangerous ingredient behind them.

"By rearranging the embellished snacks in the forms of luxury commodity, I wish to pose the questions: Who consume these foods? Who has the choice to choose?"

The William Castle movie The Tingler with Vincent Price was released on July 29, 1959. If you're having a viewing party, consider a giant gummy worm as a substitute Tingler! William Castle would have been 100 in 2014, his birthday was April 24, 1914.

 

Gummi Bear Anatomy DARK Shirt by moistproduction

There's also a version for lighter shirts:

Gummi Bear Anatomy WHITE Tshirt
Find other Artsprojekt T-Shirts at zazzle.com

Gummy products have taken over our fashion, accessories and our homes. Where did it start? Nightlights? Greeting cards? Those tiny but addictive earrings? Who knows. They're here to stay.

Gum Me? Canvas Print by straightarrows
Choose not only size & frame type but
Customize the number of panels and effects you'd like.
View more Gummy candy Canvas Prints at zazzle.com

Looking for a big, clean Gummi that'll come in handy after all your art exploring is through, something that smells as sweet as it looks? Gummygoods' Gummy Bear Soap.

World's Largest Gummi Bear cherry: 4.5 LBS World's Largest Gummi Bears, Bigger than a football? Yes, it is. Multiple Colors and Flavors available

Yellow Gummy Bear Posters by bewarethecheese
Is it Gummy Bear Cheese on the Moon? Lunar Gummi?
View another fine art print at zazzle 
Zazzle's t shirt designer use your own designs/photos

Work in process, Francois' Skinny Leg Table: Orange

One of Francois' Skinny Leg Tables

... before being finished ...

Besides making guitars, Fran does other woodworking projects.
The tables and furniture he makes on a regular basis, though they're limited editions and each is unique.

He often uses scrap and salvaged woods and lets their natural shapes guide the design of the piece.
~ ~ ~

He makes the tables in all different shapes, heights and uses many different types of wood

San Francisco Artists in Residence-Recycling & Disposal, Tour de Trash in Honolulu

Talk about Upcycling....

San Francisco Recycling & Disposal has an Artists in Residence program. Their next art show is on May 15 & 16, 2009. They say that the goal of the Artists in Residence program is "to use art to inspire people to recycle more and conserve natural resources."

One of the featured artists will be Bill Basquin, whose work, he says, includes "images from the series Fruits Uneaten and Now Past Their Prime. ... Depictions of citrus peels generally indicate fruits that I did eat." Photo is from his web site.

I previously did a blog post about the upswing in green and recycle fashion including a small Earth Day show calendar. Recycle, upcycled artwork is a big thing as well, and hooray for that. If you would like to apply for the San Francisco program they have information at their web site.

Opala is the Hawaiian word for garbage. The Honolulu Department of Environmental Services has a multi-part Tour de Trash, where people can become more familiar with what happens to the things that we throw away. It all helps so much with our awareness of how we might better conserve and reuse our resources.

I'd be interested to hear of other recycling or upcycling art shows, fashion shows or opportunities out there so we can all find out about them.