The design challenge from Art Elements this month was to upcycle.  Or, more specifically, to “create something using repurposed items. it can be a beautiful piece of art, a useful practical item or something that combines both.”  I used glass bottles and jars, along with craft items and art media, to make three pieces for this challenge.  Consumerism is the antithesis of upcycling, so, even though I desperately wanted to purchase more supplies, I limited myself to using only things already in my home.  

I am a fan of what I like to call functional art:  that which combines art with a practical use.  I figure, if I have to dust a thing, it may as well serve a purpose while looking decorative.  I’m just kidding:  I don’t dust.  But I have been using mixed media to convert glass jars formerly filled with my favorite condiment – salsa – into decorative planters and utensil holders.  See last month’s lizard-themed jars, for example.  The first project I worked on this month was another of those jars, with a whale shark design.

Why a whale shark?  Why not.  Also, July is when “shark week” happens on the Discovery channel.  I don’t actually watch the sensationalized programming, but I can’t avoid knowing that it’s happening because I do watch some television every day.  And I think the idea of a whale shark in particular infiltrated my subconscious because several of my friends posted links on social media to a story about a man who claims to have been swallowed and spit out by a whale shark.  {Science note:  as filter feeders, whale sharks swim through the water with their mouths open, swallowing plankton and small fish.  They can’t see what’s going into their mouths because their eyes are so far apart and stationed at the sides of their head.)

Sharks are amazing creatures for so many reasons, not the least of which is the diversity among the species and the fact that there have been sharks swimming in the oceans for about 455 million years.  Whale sharks are the largest species of shark, and the largest fish in general.  The spot and stripe pattern on whale sharks, which is a form of camouflage, is unique to each shark.  I could go on for days about how awesome sharks are, but this is not a blog about sharks, so I won’t.

In addition to being a fan of sharks,  I’m also a curator of empty glass bottles and jars in assorted shapes and sizes.  I cannot bring myself to put them in the recycle bin.  I’ve had plans – in my ideas journal – for several years to create altered bottles a la potion bottles.  That’s what I was going to do for my other project for this challenge.  But when I limited myself to supplies on hand, I had to go in a different design direction.

Collage and assemblage are not generally my thing.  I’m not comfortable with the randomness of it.  I know it’s not technically random if you’re doing it properly.  However, the overall effect is random and often asymmetric.  Doing that well is much more difficult than it looks.  But I’ve been intrigued by pinterest boards and wanted to give it a try.  Luckily for this buy-nothing-new challenge, I already had the basic media needed to prep bottles, glue things to them, and paint them.  Mostly because I use acrylic paint for other things and have done some decoupage projects over the years.

I’m not sure I went about adding layers to my altered bottles the proper way. For instance, the gesso layer seemed to get brushed away as I was brushing on the paper layer. Did I not need the gesso layer? Should it have been thicker or left to dry longer? In most of the videos I watched, gesso was the first layer and it didn’t seem to brush away. I don’t know. These first two tries are going to sit around my home for a while so I can watch how they hold up.

For both bottles I used only acrylic paints to add color. I went with dry brushing and rubbing on dabs of paint with my fingers to get a distressed finish. My hands were a mess and there’s still paint under my nails. Could I have worn gloves? Where would be the fun in that?

Neither of the two bottles I altered feel finished.  They both seem rather minimalist for assemblage.  That’s partly because I was hesitant to glue too many random things on them.  And it’s also because I didn’t have on hand the size or shapes of things I wanted to add.  For example, I’d like there to be some leaves or twigs around the flowers on the tall bottle.  And maybe some pearl accents.  And I think the top of the smaller bottle needs a tall finial with some bling, among other things.  But here is where they are for this challenge given my self-imposed ban on buying more things. That’s it for me this month. Thanks so much for stopping by.