One More for Trashed

 Our dog, Purty, found this trashed baseball in the park next to our house.  It must have gotten chopped up in a lawn mower.   I thought it had some interesting textures, and it fit the December theme beautifully!

One last contribution for the Trash, Ruin & Decay  December Sketchbook Challenge Theme.

More on the Theme of Trash, Ruin and Decay

 Remember last week, when I showed how to make "Composed Fabric" out of recycled scraps and cast-offs?    Now, I have a whole sheet of that composed fabric.    But what to do with it?  It can be very unfocused and overwhelming in the full sheet.  

One option is to cut it up.   The one at the top is an ATC size, about the size of a playing card.  I attached it to the cover of my 2012 Sketchbook Challenge sketchbook.  The red one below is on the cover of the 2011 sketchbook.  Yeah--all year, it's been a plain cover--until now!  Just a splash of color does wonders for a blank canvas.

My blogging friend Vicki Welsh at Field Trips in Fibers shows how to make Christmas Ornaments with a similar collage technique. 

Sketchbook Challenge : Trash, Ruin, Decay

 

For me, this is a "juicy" theme for the month, because there's so much trash, ruin, and decay around ...  And if you look closely, you'll see some wonderful textures and character in that old junk.  

These are some pictures from a walk in my Dad's woods.    It's an old junk pile, back when people had their own trash piles on their land ...  This barrell is looking very good for future rust-dyes.

Looks like moss, doesn't it?  I think it's an old carpet.  Definately not of the natural world. 

The theme got me thinking of Grappa and Gramma Smitmajer's first date more than 60 years ago ...  Grappa took her to the town dump so Grappa could shoot rats.  He was a "manly man" in those days.  Isn't that romantic?  Sheesh! 

Here's a picture of Grappa's Bus when they were getting ready for the farm auction :   

It was parked next to the machine shed for years and years.  He was always "saving it" and getting it ready for hunting / camping trips.  But I don't think it ever left his yard.  A tornado came through in the early 1980s and planted the roof of the machine shed on top of it, and there it sat for another 30 years.  Grappa just didn't have the energy or the heart to clean it up.  I was amazed that someone actually purchased it at the auction, and dragged it away. 

As further inspiration for this trash and ruined theme,  I offer Ransom Brigg's "A Most Peculiar Trip : Searching for Miss Peregrine:"



I just read his novel, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and finding this video was kind of a eureka moment.  It fit in so nicely with the theme.  Enjoy!

Everyday Inspiration : Another Look Down

Any ideas what this might be? Scroll down for the answer ...





















Keeping with the theme of found objects (otherwise known as trash), I took this picture at a wayside in France. It's the crushed and discarded foil and wire from a champagne bottle. I thought it looked kind of neat against the morning pavement.

Gutter Flowers in Pink and Gray

A while back, I came across a blog that offered a new daily photo of trash, very artfully done. (Sorry, I haven't kept track of when or where, or I'd tell you here ...) The idea intrigued me. On a recent trip to visit family in France, I took these photos. The cherry (?) trees were blooming and the blossoms were falling to the pavement and littering the gutters. I love the color combination of pink with grays. Enjoy!