Hanging it up

Did I mention that I've been hooked on plastic bags and paper clips combination? I have been obsessed. This is a hanging sculptural piece using at least a hundred plastic bags and thousands of paper clips. 

It has taken a life of its own.  It almost looks like its doing the can can.

I had to stop working on it when my hand refused to response anymore. I may be done with it. 

More Baskets

Here's another plastic bag and paper clip basket.

There's a fortune in this basket.

I love fortune cookies for the fortunes.  I made this basket to hold all my fortunes.  The colors were inspired by the boxes. 

More Plastic Bag Art

Another project I've been working on is weaving plastic bags on a cardboard loom.  This started because I was researching projects for my daughter's class.  She's in fourth grade which means there's been a focus on Native American this year.

We created baskets with pine needles and raffia and I thought that we should also weave with a rug on a loom, cardboard looms are the least expensive way to go.  I try to do the projects before I teach so that I could work out the process before I get in front of 24 kids.  

I wanted to inject some color to the project by adding what I have laying around.  Remember I picked up several boxes of paper clips.  I have to admit that I went back to the dollar store and cleaned them up on the paper clips.  I need restocking right now.

What to do with plastic bags

I had the flu recently and I'm not one to lay in bed or sit around doing absolutely nothing.  I have to keep busy.  So while I was nursing the flu in bed, I started thinking about a project that I wanted to do for the recycling show at the Escondido Municipal Gallery.  

I decided it was something I could try to do while I recuperated in bed.  I started weaving a basket using grocery plastic bags.  Okay, I'm guilty of occasionally forgetting my reusable bags.  I needed to redeem myself by using these plastic bags in art.   

The basket was a bit wavy looking but don't forget I was sick.  I'm still working on this.