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I am addicted to junk

By Deborah Lewis

I admit it, I am addicted to junk. It isn't a drug or anything that most people would actually consider a vice. Well, maybe no one except my husband and the husbands of the woman who attend my classes. It is addicting and I am not only addicted but I am an enabler and I guess I am a pusher. Sound awful? It isn't actually, maybe I can even get you interested in my vice and then you will keep coming back for more.

My vice is not expensive as long as you practice restraint. I got carried away for a few months until my husband showed me my credit card bill. For four months I had spent over $500 just at ONE thrift store! Add in my twice a week trips to 3 other thrift stores, the flea market where I have a booth but I spend more than I make and any rummage sales, we are talking about a very serious addiction. Oh, I forgot to add e-bay but, I only spend a couple hundred there a month.

So I suppose you want to know what it is I could possibly be buying at these places. It is plates. But, they have to be just the right plates and I am buying them to break them. No, not throwing them at my husband, I break them to make mosaic art. I know I have over 24 feet of plates stacked up to the bottom of the work bench now but I can always find one that just reaches out for me.

I'm also drawn to old suitcases,guitars, stools and wooden chairs, mirror & old windows, coffee cups, wooden plaques, vases, flower pots, picture frames, colored glass, ceramic heads, birds, flowers, glass bottles and oh the list is just so long. Oh, can't forget bowling balls, gazing ball stands, almost any outside decor items that I can glue the things I break onto.

In just the past few weeks I have drug home 3 maniquins, a couple copper pots and 2 old iron skillets. I have over 100 bowling balls beside the garage where I usually grow gourds. I'm not going to grow them this year since I have several large garbage bags of them now. If I see an interesting gourd I will just buy it or them.

Old and vintage jewelry always seems to jump into my shopping cart. I have a new interest in anything I can make a jewelry display from but I want mine to be different so I can be found turning things all around, viewing them from all angles to see just what I can make it into. Storage boxes also have been reaching out to me, not sure why but I have a nice supply of them and it's growing bigger all the time.

Every Monday I have to clean the studio to get ready for classes on Tues. I keep telling myself I am not going to a single Thrift store or flea market next week! Then next week comes, I do good for a day or two then I have to go and check on my booth at the flea market, then there is the Thrift store just right next door so I stop in there too, just to look mind you. But, they know me in there and start showing me things I just have to have so I dont' want to hurt their feelings so I buy this, and that, and wait, that old wheelbarrel would be so cool to mosaic! I just have to have it. Why didn't I drive the truck? The stock man says he can get it in my car so well ok. As long as I can get it out before my husband gets home from work.
When my first round of students show up on Tues. the first thing they ask if what I have new. I start showing them and pretty soon one says, "oh I want that". Another latches on to something else. Pretty soon I have made my money back plus some but the studio is still crammed full of treasures. It's ok though, I have students coming all week long and the first question is always to see what I have that they can use for their next mosaic piece.

I guess my vise isn't so bad after all. A mosaic studio full of new items just wouldn't make sense. I will keep visiting the Thrift stores, rummage sales and flea markets as long as I can. Besides now and then I find something like the wood organizer I bought a few weeks ago, I paid $3.75 only to find it listed for $50. I sold it for $35 and took my husband out for dinner.

The real lesson here...If you want to learn mosaic art either sign up for a class at my studio or visit your local thrift store, buy some plates that you like and a bowling ball, small table or anything else that is sturdy and would look nice as a mosaic. Take a hammer and break up the plate and use Weld Bond or Liquid Nails for small projects and start to glue. Remember to keep a small space between your pieces, mosaic art with large gaps isn't near as pretty. Let is sit for 24 hours to let the glue dry then grout it with grout you buy at a Habitat For Humanity resell shop. You will end up with a wonderful piece of art because you made it without spending a fortune. Now do you understand why I say that mosaic art is a green artform?

I am a mosaic and fused glass jewelry artist in Muncie, IN, USA. I teach classes in mosaic and fused glass in my home studio. All of my students are taken on field trips to local thrift stores to teach them to think outside the box and show them that the art of mosaic is one of the oldest green artforms and that despite what is shown on the new decorating shows it does not need to be expensive and actually as a responsible artist or crafter we should practice renewing, recreating and reinventing rather than rushing to the nearest craft store for new supplies. Even the majority of the glass used in our studio is scraps from stained glass artists.

Contributor's Note

I have attempted to use humor in this little intel but this is actually an important topic and one I believe in. As artists we have a unique opportunity to teach others that even discarded, used, unloved items can be made beautiful again or to serve a new, totally different purpose than first intended. I hope I have made you smile but more I hope it makes you think what you can do to reduce your dependence on new and find something you can upcycle instead.

I would think you might be able to combine breaking plates and marriage counseling

Have the couples throw plates at each other for a few minutes to get rid of the anxiety. You could take videos of the whole process and upload it to YouTube.

Then have the couple spend time putting the pieces back together in a more creative form.

Actually mosaic art is very good for stress reduction. not only can you break things but you get to play in grout and make fun messes. The only bad part is cleaning up the messes. Why is there always a down side to having fun?
Thanks for the great suggestion, maybe I should change to studio over to a counseling service.

Puniksem May 11, 2010 17:59

Well.... As a guitarist, I'm trying to make up my mind regarding the mosaic guitar... But nice job on the boot.

I promise you any guitars used in my studio are treated with respect and only mosaiced after they have lost the ability to be musical anymore. Does that help?

Yes, I do make good money between selling my artwork and teaching I can't complain.

Your intel is very cool. Next time I get mad, maybe I should throw a plate, then I'd have something to make a mosaic with. First though, I'd have to have some interesting plates. OH OH, I can see a hobby happening... Hmmm.
Wendy

Oh Wendy I promise you would love creating mosaics. It is totally addicting and if you have the right instructor it does not have to cost a lot. I would love my mind if I didn't have mosaic to keep me sane...

You got my attention! I wish I lived nearby and could take lessons. Very interesting intel and I'll be following your intels as they come along.
Best wishes,
Laraine

Laraine, if you don't have a mosaic instructor near you register on my website so you can keep up with the tutorials we post. I am always glad to asnwer any questions about mosaic art also. It is a wonderful addiction to have!

Thank you for sharing these very interesting details on mosiac art, Deborah. The originality is great and the images are wonderful.
One person's junk---is someone else's treasure!!!
Best wishes.
Frederick

Thanks Frederick, I hope it shows how much I love what I do. You are right, I find other people junk very fascinating.

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