Every Picture Tells a Story

Bladderpod in bloom.

Hi Friends,

The weekend before last was the final games of the season for kid’s soccer at the park where I walk. Final games means lots of people, and lots of people means lots of trash.

The trash cans were overflowing, but I couldn’t go picking through them because everything was covered in leftover food and sodas.

I waited until Monday, and then went to the park to see what interesting things the wind might have blown into the scrub brush surrounding the park. I discovered some good finds, and decided to make some “trash art.”

I look for trash that tells a story, although the story might not be clear to you or me. We have to guess what the story is.

This first piece was inspired by a torn piece of cardboard and some wadded up aluminum foil that I found. I unfolded the foil, cut it into a circular shape, and placed it along with the cardboard and a black cardstock shape on a piece of cardboard that had been stained by leaf prints. The black circle outline is India ink.

My next piece uses many different trash elements. A box with pink faded dots and a plastic window. A Grandma’s cookie wrapper. A Sun Chips bag. Someone’s grocery list on a piece of paper from a St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital notepad. And a couple of other miscellaneous things.

The featured find in the piece below is a Starbucks bag that has seen better days and is faded and worn by the elements. I backed it with a piece of hot pink cardstock that shows through the holes, then mounted it on a black frame before placing it on stained cardboard. This one is my favorite.

The piece below was inspired by a Northridge Hospital parking ticket that says, “Thank you for parking with us.” I made it look special with a fancy black-and-crayon and tea-dyed lace frame, then mounted it on flattened-out corrugated cardboard.

This last piece was made from a large lottery game card with flashy blues and holographic silver. I cut it up into squares, and placed it on a page from a math book that I decorated with crayon and bright orange paint. Then I covered the whole thing with a piece of burned tissue paper.

What story do these pieces tell? The shopping list written on a hospital notepad. The torn cardboad — how get it get torn like that? The parking ticket from another hospital. The lottery game card with numbers scratched off that was tossed away. The Stabucks bag that lay fading in the sun for many days before I found it.

Do you see stories in these pieces? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts. You can share them with us in the comments section below.

With love and appreciation,
Cassandra