As I compile the responses from the artists in our current show, “Mushrooms”, I feel as though my office in the back of our gallery space is in the middle of a forest. I am surrounded by the most beautiful representations of mushrooms and fungus. This open call show has brought in so many different types of artwork—pyrography, alcohol ink, fiber work, photography, paintings, pottery, glass work, and the list just goes on.
 
We have pieces from over 20 artists. Some of them have responded to a questionnaire about them, their artwork, and where you can find them and/or their artwork. But I’d like to introduce you first to the woman who made ALL of this possible.
 
Kelly Green is on of our co-op members and has coordinated shows for us in the past. This show is her 2019 effort.
-Juanita Canzoneri

I've been drawing and fascinated by art since I was very young. I really enjoy working in an endless variety of mediums from pen & ink drawings and painting on canvas to sculpting and customizing toys to photography and collage. Sometimes I use each on their own and sometimes they are all mixed up. It's very organized random chaos.
 
My process depends on the piece since I work with so many different mediums, and time plays a big role in how I proceed with each piece. I always have a bunch of different pieces and/or projects going on simultaneously which means making constant messes throughout the house. From randomness happening in my studio, to framing on the dining room table and multiple projects belonging to me and to my very creative daughter on every other surface available, the whole house can easily be overwhelmed by the creation process, and I am usually scrambling to try and keep the art messes under control.
 
I usually only paint, draw, or work on any detailed pieces when the house is completely quiet during the early hours before dawn. I cherish these rare meditative creative moments when the elegance and depth of silence can transform thought into spontaneous visual imagery. 
 
I am super excited to be showing Bee and Butterfly Baths made out of recycled glass that I made with my amazing daughter Hali who is 8 years old and quite the artist herself already. She designed and stacked all of the glassware and I did all of the gluing. It was great fun, and they turned out really cool and beautiful.
 
I applied to Commonwheel for this gallery show after, (like most of my brilliant ideas), it was suggested to me by our super insightful Marketing Manager Juanita. A lot of my artwork actually has a lot of mushrooms in it for various reasons. I enjoy drawing, painting, and sculpting mushrooms because their shapes and colors are amazing, I find them an incredibly interesting and vast organism. Sometimes I just try to recreate them and sometimes they morph into Octopuses and/or hold symbolic meaning in my art. I thought it was a brilliantly fun idea to have a whole show dedicated to this amazing Fungus so I went for it.
 
I'm a proud member of Commonwheel Artist Co-op in Manitou Springs and Colorado Creative Co-op in Old Colorado City. I also have some art work available in the super groovy hippie and mushroom friendly Poppy Seed in Manitou Springs.
My website: http://www.flyvisions.com/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellygreenhbaum/

​I loved to paint as a child, and a career in the arts was the only choice I ever considered. My studies were in Textile Design, and I received a degree, LSIAD from Canterbury College of Art in 1975. I have always enjoyed creating patterns and was lucky to join the Hallmark team in Kansas City in the early eighties. My occupation as an Illustrator lasted for twenty-five years, most of them working as a freelance and licensing artist with major companies in the US. Presently, I am expressing my creativity in watercolor, as this allows me to work fast and in a spontaneous way. As I have retired from product design, I am able to devote my time to the pursuit of painting, which is a wonderful transition.
 
Lately I have taken on painting without a sketch or drawing on the paper. On the one hand this offers greater freedom; on the other hand, this requires a lot of concentration, as you can’t alter watercolor much. In this piece I started painting the mushrooms general shapes and added the detail later. 
 
The piece I entered is called “Dancing Mushrooms”. I was trying to convey playfulness, while developing the many patterns that are present on mushrooms. 
 
I happened to be working on this particular theme and saw that “Commonwheel" was having a show depicting mushrooms. What a fun moment of synergy!
 
My work can be found at www.beatricetrezevant.com, Trezevant Art on Facebook, beatrezevant on Instagram.

I am a collector of hobbies and a jack-of-all-trades. I’ve painted, knitted, crafted, and written stories since a child. In high school and college, I delved into the performing arts, becoming a Dance and English major and choreographed an entire musical as well as original dance pieces. After college I dabbled in professional modeling and got very involved in the medieval re-creation society (SCA), where I learned medieval sewing, embroidery, knitting, and weaving, as well as medieval dancing and singing. I enjoyed knitting sweaters and making costumes for my four children as I raised them. Later I started my mermaid swim tail business, opening my small factory here in Colorado Springs where I designed, sold and shipped mermaid swim tails all over the world for seven years. I even got to choreograph a mermaid dance/swim solo – a fascinating challenge. After closing my business in 2018, I transitioned to being a full-time novelist, and I’m also learning to spin my own yarn. I’ve also gotten into LARPing (live-action role playing) instead of medieval recreation, which is a great place for improv acting as well as costuming.
 
Above is my dryad character at my medieval-style LARP in winter, knitting a red cap in the round. I also spun the yarn to knit the medieval shawl you see here, with a turquoise crocheted edging.
 
I’m drawn to knitting strange and unusual pieces. I also long for the days of my youth when I traipsed through the woods for hours at a time. Mushrooms transport me to mysterious forests again. I’ve been working off a template with varying patterns for caps and stems, which I can mix and match. I’ve begun to experiment off of the pattern, creating unusual shapes to the stems – making them bulbous then diminish to very narrow stems.
 
For these pieces, I find special felting yarn. I knit the cap, then the stem. I use hot water and felt the pieces by rubbing them together – creating heat and friction. Once dry, I stuff and stitch them, matching a cap to a stem. I forage the woods for unusual weathered wood from nature, matching a mushroom to a piece of wood, then gluing the mushroom into just the right spot. Sometimes I take a single mushroom and tuck it into a plant, onto a homemade wreath, glue it onto a flat stone, etc.​

​Drawing and painting was a favorite activity for me as a child. Both of my parents were artists who met and fell in love as students at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, so looking back, I think they naturally supported and encouraged me. I learned so much from their constructive criticisms, which is so vital to the process. I also wanted to make them proud of me, so I tried really, really hard at getting better. My main focus was always drawing, but later on, I've taken an interest in alternate mediums and surfaces to include 2D & 3D. I enjoy making an ordinary object something beautiful and special.
 
The first step in my process is the idea or inspiration, and usually, I know right away if it's something I can turn into an actual piece or image. I think about it quite a bit before I actually start, like what colors I want to use, or how I want it positioned on the surface. With my salt lamp art, I sometimes try to find an image in the salt crystal itself, and then work the design into the natural shape of the lamp. Next, I prepare the surface by hand sanding. I begin with a light sketch and then apply darker and more permanent paints and layers. I use a Dremel tool to sharpen and create more detail. Then I finish up with several coats of sealer.
 
My favorite piece for this gallery showing is the salt lamp entitled, "Mushroom & Butterfly" due to its whimsical feel and vibrant colors. It makes me want to do a HapPy DaNce :)
 
When I saw the Commonwheel's call for artists with a mushroom theme, I had two pieces that I had already completed. I had an epiphany and got busy submitting my entry form! It's hard putting your work out there, but I'm so glad I did, as should every artist. I love seeing other artist's creativity and work so that inspired me to apply as well. 
 
In the past, I've had my needle felting work in two shops; The Pink Tulip in Indianapolis and The HeArt Market in OCC, but currently you can find me on my Facebook page, Bittie's Shop, where I sometimes post videos while I'm working on the salt lamps or drawings. 
 
I'm an avid "Pinner" and have a large variety of visual interests and boards on Pinterest, to include a "Fungi" board! Just search for "Bittie's Shop" and I should pop up. 
 
I started an Etsy Shop about a year ago and add new pieces as often as I can. Here's my Etsy Shop address: www.bittiesshop.etsy.com. 
 
If you like my work, please consider giving me a like and a follow on all of the above!

I am a self-trained artist. Art was a found blessing in my life. Growing up, drawing and painting was just a rainy-day activity when I couldn’t be outside. However, after many years of unexplained illness, I was diagnosed with the chronic disease Lupus in 1992. During the difficult times trying to get my disease under control, I struggled with significant cognitive loss. For several years, I lost the ability to read or write…. but drawing was my life jacket. Since then a simple means to express myself has become my identity and a growing business. I am an active volunteer with the Wake Forest Guild of Artists and currently serve on the Wake Forest Public Arts Commission. I live in Raleigh, NC with my husband, two teenagers, and far too many pets.
 
I often choose subject matter connected to nature because I love dramatizing saturated hues and shadowed forms. My unique mixed-media techniques are work intensive and use both de-constructive and building processes. Each canvas becomes its own anthology. I start with a slew of understudy paintings done on variety of papers and materials. Once I rearrange and set the patchwork of squares into a composition that will make a good foundation, I then overlay my intended image. This lends the work to have depth, texture, and just a tad randomness. The common thread for all of my work is the creativity joining representational, raw, tactile, and abstract elements. 
 
My favorite piece accepted into Mushrooms is “Humbled”. The painting is a reproduction of a photo I took while hiking in the Keweenaw Peninsula, MI. The intention behind this painting is a juxtaposition of how we view our life span versus that of the everyday life cycles of nature. “Humbled” is the stage of life when we have reached our maturity and we gain gratitude for even the smallest of blessings. In this case, a battered, leaning tree was giving way to a rich golden stand of mushrooms. 
  
Since I integrate multiple elements into each work, I find it challenging to pick out appropriate call of entries. However, my creative heart was so happy to see Mushrooms! I see beauty in the unexpected…. So, I had mushroom art! Thank you for this opportunity.
 
 
Website: www.delphinepeller.com
Facebook: @ArtbyDelphinePeller
Instagram: delphine_peller_art
Wake Forest, NC : Southern Suds & Gifts 213 S.White Street Wake Forest, NC 27587

​My love for art started when I took Introduction to Art in high school, winning Second Place in a student art show with my very first painting. Being poor, I relied on teaching myself but would take college courses or private lessons as I could afford them. I mostly focused on acrylic painting but eventually added airbrush in 2008 and oils in 2009 (I had briefly worked with them in 1987). I’ve been doing murals since 1995. I’ve loved charcoal and graphite since high school, and I began working with pastel chalk in 2012 and colored pencils in 2014. I’ve been sewing since middle school and created “Bearing My Soul” Custom Teddy Bears in 2009. I’ve been whittling since 1992. My sister introduced me to pyrography in 2015, and I’ve been on fire for it ever since! (See what I did there?) It is very difficult for me to choose a favorite medium, which is why my art business is called “Stephanie’s Smorgasbord,” because I offer a little bit of everything.
 
When I am working on a painting, I will picture the layout in my mind for days, weeks, sometimes longer. I gather several reference photos before I get started, then sketch the layout in my sketch book, then onto the canvas, erasing and redrawing many times until I am satisfied with the composition. Unlike many artists, I don’t like to “prime” my canvas—I prefer to work on a white background. I put down basic shapes and colors, quickly working my way around the canvas (acrylic has a fast drying time!) building up layers until the canvas is covered, most likely redrawing many objects that got covered up in the initial stages. Once I am satisfied with the background, I break out the small brushes to work on the fine details and foreground objects. I believe I have one of the most unconventional methods of painting on the planet! Most artists mix their paint on their palettes, then apply it to their canvas. I do that to an extent, but for the most part, I mix my colors directly on the canvas, adding layers until l I get the details right. Even as I go through the painting process, I may change many of the objects based on shape, color, or size until I settle on what looks good. Once finished, I let it rest for several days, then look at it with “new eyes” to see if I need to tweak any additional details that I hadn’t previously done during the process.
 
My favorite piece for this show is “Fungi Fiesta” (credit for the title goes to my son Christopher Merchant). My 24”x48” acrylic painting of a forest scene with shafts of sunlight and mushrooms in the foreground. I birthed the concept when I was temporarily living in Maryland, which is when my obsession of mushrooms and appreciation of the forest began. I never realized how many different mushrooms there were! I spent hours photographing them and adding them to my Instagram feed (stepmercjohn), where I followed many other mushroom enthusiasts (machelspencephoto, yellowelanor, jill_bliss, and freymanbg are some faves!). I dreamed of doing a large painting for myself and began collecting reference photos, but it wasn’t until I moved back to Colorado in 2018 that I got serious about putting it all together. I bought a canvas but was so busy that it sat in my closet for over 6 months until my friend Carole Morrison (“Off the Leash Art”) sent me the link to Commonwheel’s Call for Artists. This was the kick in the pants I needed to get started! If it sells, I get to create another one! If it doesn’t, it’ll look fantastic in my new art studio! The painting took almost 80 hours to complete, and I loved every single mushroom I painted!
 
My obsession with mushrooms inspired to apply for this show! I have mushroom jewelry, mushroom embroidery, mushroom pillows, mushroom art, mushroom wreaths, mushroom knick knacks, mushroom keychain, mushroom fabric, mushroom kitchen canisters, trivets, salt & pepper shakers, coffee mugs … the list goes on! Of all the things I have ever collected, my mushroom collection is the largest! (Hmmm … I may have a serious problem here!) I am so grateful to Carole Morrison for sending me the Call for Artists link—she said, “This is right up your alley!” I felt like the show was created “just for me,” but I know there are many others who love mushrooms as much as I do!
 
Blog: www.stephaniejohnsonmurals.blogspot.com
Facebook Business: Owner, Stephanie’s Smorgasbord
Facebook Personal: Stephanie Merchant
Instagram: stepmercjohnart, stepmercjohnart
Etsy: StephanieSmorgasbord
Email: [email protected]

I have always loved drawing and painting, but it wasn’t until I retired that I had the time for it. It was then that I started taking classes for certification in Botanical Illustration at the Denver Botanic Gardens. I discovered within myself a curiosity, love and wonder at the complexity of a plant’s structure and found that I wanted to record all that!
 
Botanical Illustration is a precise form of art. It requires accuracy which can only be achieved by studying the plant where it is growing, measuring it, counting its components and noting their arrangement. Only then do I start to make preliminary sketches. I try to capture, not only the plant’s beauty, but also the accuracy of its make-up. This can result in several messy sketches! When I am pleased with a composition which shows as much detail as possible, I will make a contour drawing from it, showing only the outlines, by tracing the sketch. On a separate trace, I will make a value study, which shows only the shadows and varying degrees of shade. I will then transfer the contour drawing on to a clean, final piece of paper. I will set that aside, while I try to match the colors of the plant and mix up batches to use while I’m painting. Then the fun part starts, setting the plant in front of me, referring to my value study and my sketches, I start to paint – exactly what I see - with all its lovely details!
 
I only have one piece in this exhibition “Sarcodon imbricatus”, or the scaly hedgehog mushroom. I remember doing the preliminary sketches, while sitting under a tree, getting a slightly damp behind, in the mountains! Fun memories!
 
I have loved looking at all the exhibitions that have come and gone in the back gallery at Commonwheel. I have been interested in showing one of my pieces, but this is the first time I felt there was a “fit”.
​
My work is displayed at the Commonwheel Co-op and I have my own web-site at smithwickbotanicals.com

​I recently moved from Delaware to Colorado Springs to pursue my photography career. I got my first DSLR camera in 2010 and have loved taking photos since. My junior year of college I officially declared my major as photography and dove in head first. Landscape, nature, and wildlife photography have always been my "jam" as I like to say. Photography gives me a means to find myself. Sometimes it takes getting lost to be found. Even at the most remote locations, in solitude, as long as I am camera in hand, I’ve never felt lost or alone, in fact those are the moments in which I feel most alive. Photography completes me in a way nothing else can. I have been taking small steps to further my career since moving to Colorado and I could not be more excited to see what the future holds.
 
First and foremost, I have to venture out into nature. Mother Nature is the ultimate artist and her inspiration is endless. I guess Photography is a bit of a different process than most mediums. I keep my eyes peeled at all times, constantly looking for interesting compositions (hint, they’re everywhere) but other times they jump out and smack me in the face. That’s one of the great things about Colorado, almost everywhere you look is picturesque. When I see a composition I like, I line it up through my lens to see how it translates through the camera. If I like it, I’ll go ahead and click the shutter. The editing process is a huge part of photography. I’m not big on Photoshop. I use Lightroom to adjust saturation, contrast, and highlights/shadows if needed. I like to bring out the bright, warm tones in a photo. 
 
My favorite piece accepted for this show is Chanterelles. I just love the contrast between the green and the orange. I also love how the composition of it leads your eye from mushroom to mushroom. When I look at my photos I am always taken back to the moment I took it. This one was taken while I was hiking through the Great Smoky Mountains. I am back in the lush, mountainous, serene forest and it makes me feel at peace again.
 
This question is a bit ironic to me in this context. I was never big on mushrooms until I went on my road trip around the country last summer. Mushrooms are such a unique and diverse plant and I did not realize this until my trip. Traveling around the whole country I found countless different kinds and ever since I have loved mushrooms, so when I saw this mushroom-themed show, I knew I had to be a part of it! I am very excited to see the rest of the art on display. 
 
Website: www.amyshortphoto.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amyshortphoto
Instagram: @amyshortphoto
Viewbug: www.viewbug.com/member/amyshortphoto
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/amyshortphoto
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/amyshortphoto

​While in high school, my art class took several field trips to the Appalachian Center for Craft. From the first visit, I knew that I wanted to study at the Craft Center. It’s beautiful location and amazing facilities was the best place for me to pursue art. I graduated from the Appalachian Center for Craft in December 2017. I graduated with a BFA in Ceramics and a minor in Social & Behavioral Science. I’m currently the Gallery Manager at the Craft Center and I also teach ceramics to high school students through the Appalachian Center for Craft’s Focus on Fine Craft Program.
 
My forms are thrown on the potter’s wheel and then altered and pinched to leave my own touch, documenting my relationship to each vessel. I paint quick, expressive imagery using Amaco Underglazes, inspired by my perception of environments I’ve encountered in my life. I carve through my imagery to reveal my terracotta clay body beneath, providing contrast in each piece. This process is called sgraffito. My pots are then bisque fired to Cone 08 (1728 degrees), glazed in a clear glaze, and then fired again to Cone 3 (2106 degrees).
 
I enjoyed making my Mushroom Bud Vase! It’s different than what I usually make! I came across the call for entry for this show on Instagram and I thought it would be a fun show to enter!
 
Website: beccadilldineceramics.com
Instagram: beccadilldine_ceramics
Galleries: Appalachian Center for Craft Retail Gallery, Smithville, TN

​My love of Nature and being outdoors has been part of my life as far back as I can remember. Creating art in many forms has been the basis of my life starting with theatre when I built sets and directed others in High School and college. After college, I created fiber-based crafts that often incorporated found objects. For about 20 years, I traveled to art shows, participated in RenFests and showed in many galleries. Feathers have always been part of my art creations and that evolved into my creating feather masks, earrings, hairclips and pendants.
 
I have taken thousands of photographs on my hikes and in many gardens. About seven years ago I started using my realistic nature and other photos to illustrate my books and journals. And more recently, I began to use my realistic photographs to create different types of decks of cards for children and adults. Original versions of my photographic Nature-based images are just one way I express my love of Nature. Mushrooms have often been subjects of those photos in late summer and early fall when the pop up out of the Earth to delight folks that look closely at the ground.
 
A few years ago, I “fell down a rabbit hole of creativity” and began using my Nature photos to create abstract, kaleidoscopic and mandala style images by taking a little part of a Nature photo and playing with it in Photoshop. Two of these styles of images can be seen in this show.
 
When I am sitting at my computer, I get totally lost in the process and my imagination can run pretty wild thinking about how to take the images I captured and create something totally unique and fun or hone in a specific element found in a photograph, such as a mushroom. It uplifts my spirit to honor the beauty of the amazing places I get to hike and glorify Nature in various artful ways.
 
All art involves an artist taking up some media and transforming it into a new form or image that comes from their vision and imagination. I try to transform what most people see as ordinary into something extraordinary with a unique way of seeing the world.
 
Working in my feather studio or on a computer or taking photos on my hikes always has my creative juices flowing. I am constantly looking for some new way to use the images I captured in the wilderness or a garden to create a bit of awe and wonder when someone sees the finished art.
 
So, my favorite piece in this show is the one that I played with and abstracted. “Meet Me at the Vortex By the Orange Mushrooms” is my favorite image I submitted to this show. It incorporates bits of bark to look like a couple of adventurers thinking of stepping into another realm. A group of brilliantly orange mushrooms marks the place for them to meet and contemplate where they might go next.

Nature is my most powerful inspiration. When hiking or passing a beautiful garden, I often stop to take in the amazingly beautiful natural creations that surround me. A driftwood stump or a rock formation or some fungi popping up out of the ground can be as enticing to my eye as a beautiful wildflower. Each one makes my heart sing and my spirit soar with joy when I take the time to really look at the beauty others pass by each day without noticing it.
 
I have a great respect for the pristine areas found in our surrounding mountains. And I have respect for folks that hunt for edible mushrooms in a consciously sustainable way. The often share this fun adventure with friends and family members to increase awareness of what Nature offers to us on many levels. So glad to be part of a show that celebrates this often-misunderstood types of flora. I have the hope when people view photos expressing the beauty of Nature, the might become a bit more aware how they can take actions to keep where they travel as pristine as when they arrived and look closely at some fun fungi that may be overlooked for their less showy aspect than wildflowers exhibit.
 
Stores/Galleries:              Commonwheel Artists Co-op
                                                Manitou Art Center in the First Amendment Gallery
Web sites:
                www.commonwheel.com
                http://julial-wright.pixels.com/
                https://www.hierographicsbooksllc.com
                www.hempearthart.com
                My books are also on Amazon under the brand name of HieroGraphics Books.
                https://www.etsy.com/shop/Fantafaces
​

​I’ve dabbled in many artistic media, but I’ve found that fused glass is the one that gives me the most joy. I love experimenting, and particularly enjoy creating 3-D pieces in the kiln. This requires a number of firings at varying temperatures, all taking between 9-20 hours, with 4 or 5 hours of cool-down time. My inspiration comes from nature, including both the mountains and the sea. I have been working in fused glass for over 14 years, I have four kilns, and have taken over every inch of available space in my house and garage for my studio!
 
I create the components of my pieces individually, which requires cutting glass, finishing the edges, and firing to create each one. Then they are fired flat in the kiln, fired again together to create the piece, and fired slowly a final time to drape over a form which creates a 3-D piece.
 
My favorite piece for the Mushrooms exhibit is my Mushroom Luminary. The idea for this piece has been brewing in my mind since I first heard about the exhibit. It turned out just as I imagined it, and I’m very pleased with the result.
 
I’ve loved mushrooms since I was first introduced to Alice in Wonderland as a child, so I was thrilled when I heard the theme for this exhibit!
 
My work can be found on my Facebook page, LoLo’s Paloozas (www.facebook.com/LoLosPaloozas/), and is currently sold in the Strictly Guffey Gallery in Guffey, Colorado. I exhibit at many other venues in the Colorado Springs area including the MAC, the Modbo, Cottonwood Center for the Arts, and others.

​I have been making glass art for 25 years. Inspirations for me come from everything around me. I look for interesting patterns, textures, and colors from nature and try to depict those inspirations in glass.
 
For this mushroom show, I have made some really fun lampworked glass mushroom beads which have been strung for necklaces. The process for making a glass mushroom starts by melting a pencil thin rod of glass in a torch. I then wind the hot glass onto a mandrel and squish the glass into the form of the top of the mushroom. The stem of the mushroom (a bit of a rod of glass) is then delicately placed on the underside of the mushroom top. Once I’m happy with the form, I anneal the glass, cooling it slowly over time. This annealing process assures that the glass is molecularly sound, and the glass mushroom will be just as beautiful in 10 years as it is now.
 
All of the mushrooms that I have made for this show are favorites for me in different ways. I have made a variety of styles of mushrooms for this show, and each is very unique!
 
I was inspired to apply for this show because I’m a “fun guy”!
 
My work can be found at The SideDoor Gallery in Old Colorado City, The Poppy Seed in Manitou Springs, and Commonwheel Artist Coop at which I am a member.

I dabbled in just about every media before discovering pyrography, also known as wood burning. I was drawn to the arts because it’s a language I can understand. As a deaf individual, I connect to the details of the visual world. My art is largely inspired by my passions. I adore animals, nature, science, and I also don’t mind smelling like campfire!
 
Pyrography has been around for centuries. It’s an age-old technique where a heated metal pen is used to burn wood. Each burn begins with selecting a wood slice and studying its character – the knots, grain, texture, and size. Next, I practice design ideas in my sketchbook. When satisfied, I draw in pencil the base sketch to the wood slice. I use a Razertip (10 amp detailed burning system) to burn the wood slice. The detail of each burn is achieved using a variety of wire tips and a range of heat settings. Each burn is unique because each wood slice is unique, which in turn affects how the wood is burned. My favorite part of my process is burning – it’s a slow, smoky art. I also love mixing my medias, after burning I will add watercolors or dried flowers to the wood slice.
 
Deciding which piece is my favorite is a tough choice – I really enjoyed burning complex mushroom gills in some of my other pieces. However, I would have to say “Moon Shrooms” is my favorite. I loved playing with rocky and smooth textures to bring imagination to life.
​ 
Mushrooms are such a fun subject matter – they are imperfectly perfect. Nature’s reminder that flaws are beautiful. I was also inspired by Commonwheel’s charm and cooperative mission: community.
 
On social media you can find my art by searching Woodstove Studios. Woodstove Studios started in my childhood home which was built in the late 1700s. My warmest family memories are gathered around our wood stove. Wood and wood burning will always smell like home.
 
Etsy Shop: Woodstove Studios
Instagram: @woodstovestudios
Email: [email protected]
​

I enrolled in my first pottery class in 1975, I have not put clay down since. I love that I can take this malleable material, "clay" and move, manipulate, and form creative pieces to oneself and hopefully to many others!
 
I've been throwing mushrooms on the wheel for 8 years. I made these unique to this show, as they are "salt fired". A process where, when the kiln reaches 2400 F you add rock salt which instantly vaporizes and glazes the pieces with salt vapor. The finished piece has an "orange peel" texture, and an earthen or woodland appearance
 
My favorite piece for this show is the tall spiral mushroom that has the orange peel texture and some movement.
 
I wanted to participate in the show to see the public reaction to something unique.
 
My work is available at Hunter Wolff Gallery - 2510 West Colorado Avenue www.hunterwolffgallery.com
​

​I work primarily in acrylics and my favorite subjects are florals, landscapes, fall scenes, animals, (especially lions and cows), mountains, abstracts, and now "mushrooms".
 
Both paintings* accepted for this show were inspired by a hike on the Pancake Rock trail 10 years ago during the height of the mushroom growing season. I had taken several photos and selected 2 that I very much enjoyed because of their location, natural color, texture of their surroundings and light. Creating new paintings for this show was a challenge as I had never done a mushroom before, and I remember still the excitement of finding these lovely shapes of nature that were so unique and fun to look at, almost playful.
 
I applied because I like the challenge of a new theme for me and knowing the colors of the forest floor and colorful mushrooms would complement my style. I hoped I could give the subject new life and style on canvas.
 
I sometimes post my work on Facebook. I currently have 2 paintings at First Pres. Downtown and 3 locations that are part of the "Art Aloud" art and poetry shows: Hooked on Books (downtown on Bijou), Academy Art and Frame, and Pikes Peak Market Place on E. Pikes Peak.
 
*I would say this is my favorite of the 2 because I experimented with more variety of color and the angle was harder to work with. The variety of colors are a more Impressionistic landscape.

​Michael Ryder graduated from Metro State in Denver with a focus on large acrylic or resin paintings. Having spent a lot of time with some Navajo silversmiths he switched to jewelry, but presently enjoys both painting and silver work. Paint application is very important to achieve the effect he’s looking for.

​Juanita Canzoneri
Commonwheel Artists Co-op curator for Fiber = Art
 
When I proposed the concept for this show to Liz Kettle and Susan Haldeman at Textiles West I was thrilled that they were as excited about the idea as I was.  Liz’s “stitch meditation” series was part of the  inspire for this event.
 
I’ve been working in fiber since childhood. I was raised by a mother who knits and sews and that modeled for me the beauty and utilitarianism of the art form. I worked in the theater costume shop in college and set up my own sewing room once out of college, designing my own wardrobe.
 
I started working in glass mosaics in 2001 and put fiber to the side.
 
But in the past decade the non-functional uses for fiber work have become more important to me than making things to be worn on the body. I started with working in alternative fibers, such as video tape and audio cassette tape. Since they were too stiff to be comfortably worn I started yarn bombing with them and created a few larger installation pieces—the first of which is still on my gate.
 
My pieces for this show incorporate collaged Styrofoam and ping pong balls and covered them in decorative crochet. I’ve taken groupings of these and assembled them into mobiles—a new art form for me!
 
I hope you enjoy seeing the work we’ve assembled for this show as much as we have enjoyed putting it together. The range of talents and fiber art styles we’ve drawn is astounding.
 
 

​Heather Cotterman
 
I have always been in love with fiber and color, in all forms. Throughout my artistic career I have experimented with fiber in many forms. My journey began in the quilting world making a blanket for my oldest child before she was born, 17 years ago. I soon began to play with fabric and thread like they were paints. Once we moved to Colorado I explored patterned pen and ink drawing and started on my journey of converting my drawings into fiber art pieces. Once in Colorado I had time to pursue my fiber arts business through raising a fiber flock that includes angora goats, angora rabbit, and sheep. In addition to my art quilts I spend time hand-dying my hand-spun art yarn, weaving, and making silk sculptures. 
 
My pieces often come from images from my dreams. I have yet to be able to fully capture what I see in my dreams, which provides many opportunities to capture my imagination. Both "Bridge of Dreams" and "Daphne" are sketches that came about, in the middle the night, after waking from a dream. Very rarely do I have an intent when I begin to sketch. It’s almost like my subconscious is drawing. As I am working and sometimes not till I’m finished, meaning begins to take form. My hope is that working in this manner gives my work a sense of organic mysticism and spirituality that can speak to many on an individual sense. 
 
“Daphne” is a perfect example of the evolutionary qualities of my artistic process. 

​Rhonda Denney
 
I have always been interested in art. During high school and college I attended art classes, but my degree and business career was in something totally different. I used art as a way to relax, but my career took me away from it. It was my husband who encouraged me to get back to it.
 
I started in fiber art around 2004 or so. Essentially, I started creating my art using fabrics and stitching. Then I discovered that using pigments opened my creative potential to a new dimension. Every time I create a piece I experiment more and learn more. I call my technique “Pigment Patchwork”.
 
I love the challenge of capturing the spirit of my subjects in my artwork. As I work on a project each piece seems to take on a life of its own, developing through the entire process.
 
I love watching people look at my work, seeing them examine the piece to try to determine what exactly it is; a photograph, a painting? Then, when they realize that it consists of fabric with stitching it requires a closer look and the need for a tactile confirmation becomes stronger.
 
I love experimenting with pigments on fabric. In this series, called “The Eyes Have It”, my work zooms in to get a closer look at my subjects, including their eyes. For this piece I wanted the texture to come through as well.
 
This piece was created using my Pigment Patchwork technique. Once I decided on my subject matter, using photographs as inspiration, I sketched the chameleon onto a large piece of silk noil fabric. Using water-soluble pigments I created the texture of his skin. Once completed, I chose the background fabric and mounted him onto it. Using a sewing machine, I added stitching for dimension on my sandwiched structure, using mono-filament threads so the colors would show through. The finished product was then mounted onto a wood panel.
 
I love catching people’s attention with the detail and reality of my pieces. I want them to come closer to see the detail.
 
My artist web site is: www.RhondaDenney.com. I also have items including limited edition prints and notecards of my work at my home studio and the following Galleries:
                Strictly Guffey, Guffey, CO
                3rd Street Gallery, Westcliffe, CO

​​M. Lynette Holmes
 
My fascination with and love of fabric began in my childhood. It was very exciting to choose fabric for my school clothes from the catalogs. I remember the smell of the paint as my mother stenciled on tablecloths. Occasionally, I would get a peek at the Japanese doll wrapped in tissue taken out of a special drawer and wonder about the mystique surrounding it. This was the beginning of my interest in making cloth, dyeing cloth, Asian art and working as a fiber artist.
 
I have been weaving and dyeing cloth for many years and presently concentrating on art quilts using surface design.
 
Art for me is problem solving, challenging, and at the same time joyful!
 
In this show, all of my works use collage, layering of fabrics, and to different degrees, hand-stitching. The stitching process helped me focus during a time of transition when time and access to materials and my sewing machine were scarce. In “Under the Sun” a forest is hand-stitched onto three layers of silk cloth. The hand stitching in the three smallest pieces manipulates the cloth creating texture and movement. The colors contribute to a universal theme of flowing water and is calming.
 
My favorite piece is “Voyage” because I like the variety of processes I used. It is dynamic with strong color and movement. I like the spiraling and color transition from dark to light. It expresses my thought that each person is on her/his own adventure in life whether purposeful or unknown.
 
The process for Voyage :
I began by machine-stitching fabrics arranged by color onto a base fabric. I started with an abstract design and did hand stitching to define some forms. Fabric paint was brushed on in areas where fabric shapes were too sharp. Large sheer fabrics were fused to create movement. Smaller forms were painted with paint sticks onto sheers, then fused and machine sewn. In this instance, the original abstract design disappeared and another vision took its place. From this point on, I viewed it as a whole piece and determined what needed to be added or changed. I painted a large circular line which completes the spiraling. Then, I tweaked it by adding shapes, fabrics, stamping and painting. I machine stitched the whole cloth and added a binding to finish.
 
Contact me at [email protected]
Home phone 710-696-8336
Cell phone 904-557-1187

​Page Jones
 
I'm originally from Texas. Both of my grandmothers had a love for the fiber arts (though they were geared more towards clothing and stuffed animals), so I became interested, too. I was drawn towards simple embroidery because it was easy to reproduce my pencil sketches in thread. I have been sewing since I was about 8 years old. I was never terribly proficient at it, but I always found joy in stitching on cloth. I started seriously doing embroidery on canvas in 2012. I had just graduated college, and I needed a creative outlet while transitioning from a student to the real world. Ever since, I have been honing my craft. My primary medium is fabric and stitching on canvas, though I dabble in nupastel on canvas as well. I focus on mostly natural and scientific themes.
 
Making art for me is creating a moment of time away from the regular rhythm of life. MY aim is to make a piece that will draw the viewer into a brief period of time where they can just follow the lines and feel the tone of the piece instead of the regular buzz of everything around them.
 
I am primarily a fiber artist, so entering the show was an opportunity to further demonstrate to the community an often overlooked medium. There aren't many fiber art shows out there that focus on non-functional fiber art, and it’s an honor to be a part of one.
 
I derive my inspiration from science and nature, and crinoids is an example of both. I was in the Houston Museum of Natural Science when I saw this massive, beautiful Crinoid fossil on the wall. I felt an instant desire to capture it in embroidery. When I was able to afford the largest canvas I could fit in my car, I got to work. I started with a base layer of natural earth paints to capture the feeling of the rock. I then chose a glittering gold thread so the piece would pop. The embroidery took me around a month and a half, finding time between work and other obligations. I sewed the whole thing free hand, staring at the picture of the fossil, then trying to imitate the ancient creature on canvas. When I was finished, the piece was massive and I was full of pin pricks from my needle, but well worth it.
 
I want the viewer to see the subject as intimately as I did. Whether it is the feeling of seeing a magpie for the first time, or the awe of seeing a towering fossil, I want to convey that same fascinations and wonder.
 
My favorite piece is “Crinoids”. When you spend so much time on one piece, you have many memories associated with its creation. I have many good memories stored in that piece.
 
I have some smaller embroidered pieces in Piazza Navona, 12 Ruxton Ave, Manitou Springs, CO 80829
I created a series of nebulae for sale at KJS Comics in the Citadel Mall, 750 Citadel Dr E #1116, Colorado Springs, CO 80909
​
I have a few pieces available in a stairway gallery at Curves, 108 W Midland Ave, Woodland Park, CO 80863
I'm on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stitchedartbypagejones/
I have a website: https://page-jones.squarespace.com/
I'm open to commissioned pieces, so contact me through my website or Facebook page listed above if you are interested.

​

​Stephanie Lyon
 
My interest in Fiber art and craft began as a child. My grandmother was a Hungarian immigrant working as a garment maker in a textile factory in NYC. The beauty and precision of her work fascinated me even as a child. In my teens and twenties I sewed clothing and home goods more as a practical matter than artistic pursuit. And tried my hand at other fiber arts of the time such as macramé. I pursued a career as a computer software engineer so no surprise I found the order and logic of weaving especially interesting.
 
In the early 1990s a workshop with Lore Kadden Lindenfeld (an early female industrial textile designer) confirmed weaving as my true fiber connection. I work almost exclusively on multi-harness floor or table looms. My favorite projects have been weaving with non-traditional materials, creation of dimensional pieces, and garments.
 
My current obsession is woven shibori also known as crimp cloth. It is a fun and fascinating process that produces a fabric with dimension that goes further than texture. I am not sure where it will take me.
 
“A weaver maps out the universe, travels back in time and journeys into the future...”, Gabriel George
in A Salish Weaver
 
Making art is my opportunity to turn off the analysis and connect to the creative part of my brain. Seeing the joy it can bring to others is the icing on the cake.
 
While a majority of my weaving is functional, “Pig in the Orchard” is my second pictorial weaving. I chose boundweave structure because it has a rather folk arty look with repeating design motifs. And this structure is done using a regular floor or table loom. I created the first wall hanging as a birthday gift for my husband who had become quite interested in the revival of the American hard cider industry. While the gift was very well received, some important orchard details were declared missing. In particular, a pig. I decided to do this second piece and incorporate some techniques that are not standard for boundweave. In the future, I expect there might be an orchard at night weaving.
 
Designing motifs for boundweave is very much a colored pencil on graph paper process. Each motif is designed around the target number of threads per inch and whether the motif should rise from the sides to the center or fall from the sides to the center. The photo included shows how some trees have upswing on the branches and others have downswing. Each row of boundweave requires multiple passes of the shuttles—in this piece 6—to insert the color that corresponds to each shaft for that row. Going back to the graph paper, each square represents color being woven at a particular row and thread (column). Once the design is completed on paper, the weaving begins from the bottom of the piece to the top. The design is used as a reference and changes are made on the fly as needed. Pictorial boundweave is slow progress but gives the weaver control over the placement of the design motifs while making efficient use of the multi shaft loom.
 
Getting the pig into the picture required some nonstandard manipulations to break the repeating motif of trees and insert a single pig. (The pigs get to eat any fallen fruit while keeping the soil in good condition.) Balancing the scale of the pig with the trees and getting sufficient detail was a bit of a challenge. Luckily, folk art allows one to relax the rules to achieve the proper whimsical result.
 
In general, I love to create weavings that perplex the viewer due to their perceived complexity … which is not necessarily their actual complexity.
 
While I am in the process of setting up an online selling venue at Etsy, it is not complete
yet. I am on Instagram at @xweaverwarped.

​

​Mary Madison
 
I’ve always been interested in making art, reading and writing. I was fortunate that my family though dirt poor, encouraged me at every turn. When we planted our vegetable garden, I was allowed to grow gladiolas. My dad painted a bedroom wall pink so I could draw flowers on it. My grandmother bought me a set of encyclopedias from a traveling salesman paying pennies weekly. One aunt taught me crocheting while another set up a space just for me to use her sewing machine and my granddad taught me fine stitching by repairing his work clothes. He was a coal miner. His work clothes were torn and well work overalls. So making art isn’t so much what I do, it’s really a large part of who I am.
 
Though much of my energy has been focused on weaving, I also spend a lot of time quilting and eco dyeing. I encountered references about indigo while researching a book I was writing at the time about slave weavers and how they carded fiber, spun, dyed and wove a wide range of household items for plantation owners. I did not know before this that indigo still grows wild in some parts of the south. I am very protective of two indigo plants I’ve been nurturing along, whispering to them that snow isn’t really that bad!
 
The two pieces in the show are a reflection of two dyeing approaches. Though very different, the fiber reactive piece and the indigo dyed piece both speak to my trying to capture a sense of time and how I think of movement between dimensions as timeless and endless. The Evolution depiction, while moving up from water’s depth towards the surface, is still earth-bound. The Portal depiction feels less tied to earths grasp. When people view these pieces I would like for them to acknowledge, as I try to, things past without clinging or lamenting, and be hopeful and unafraid for things to come.
 
My latest efforts have been tied to gardening and figuring out how and where I’m going to plant a hemp crop (the fiber bast species, not the marijuana one) to make yarn using a blending of my alpaca fleece.
 
I’ve recently decided to be more proactive in sharing my work and have a website: MaryMadisonDesigns.com, where I’ve posted pictures of my work and other photographs. I also have a WordPress blog, though seriously not current, where you can read about my writing experience. It is titled Plantation Slave Weavers Remember.
 

​
Andrea Schumacher
 
I have been doing art since I was a teen. I majored in art at University of Wisconsin, Madison, where I started doing printmaking, painting, and drawing. I moved to Chicago in 1986 to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program, a one-year program that gave me the equivalent of a B.F.A degree. After a few more years I decided to pursue my MFA in printmaking at SAIC. I remained in Chicago until 2016. I showed in and around Chicago and had a variety of jobs. In 2004 I started working at Columbia College Chicago. I started in a tech position for the Art and Design Department. After a year I started managing the printmaking facility. I also taught a variety of printmaking courses at Columbia. So I have been a practicing artist and art educator for quite a while.
 
Art is an opening into another world, like a book. When I view art I get a chance to experience another point of view, to decode whatever visual system the artist might employ to communicate a message. Art is also like a time capsule to a particular time, society, and location. Making art is a chance to communicate my perspective, my history, my background and experience. My interests are quite varied, and my work reflects that. My work is quite diaristic, it is a record of my interests, obsessions, and problems. My best pieces are ones that communicate something personal but that also transcends my life and connects to larger issues.
 
I have been working with fabric for a few years (since 2015-2016). My sister was an avid quilter and she inspired me to make a few quilts. I made a t-shirt quilt and that led to me to consider using textiles in a more artistic and less functional way. I use recycled functional textiles and some new fabrics. I find that textiles have a lot of potential meaning and history. At times I am simply inspired by the color and tactile nature of material. It became quite evident to me that fabric was a great medium to make works about gender roles and my own personal history as a woman.
 
My sources of inspiration are quite varied. I am drawn to the fashion of the 60’s quite a bit. I am often inspired by theatrical wardrobe because I feel that these pieces of clothing help to convey elements of the character’s emotion and history. Much of my work uses items like buttons, buckles, zippers that convey a sense of containment. There are so many aspects of a garment that function to contain and constrain a body and that is a metaphor for female constraints.
 
The inspiration for “100 Sad Stories” was my Mother. She is very caught up in regret and anger for her life with my Father and her own upbringing. I feel her most significant legacy to me is sadness and regret. So I set out to create an item that could be considered a family heirloom, such as a quilt. This quilt however, would represent poverty and sadness. I wanted to make the most meager and threadbare blanket I could think of. I used a worn piece of wool with visible holes that was about the size of a person. I used a thin but delicate piece as the quilt top and quilted them together using spare buttons. There was no plan or attempt at measuring the quilting, so it is quite off kilter. The finished result was too pretty so I sewed a latticework of lines to connect the buttons and cut out the remaining fabric of the quilt top. The sewn lines look somewhat scar-like and the piece became quite spare but also overworked at the same time. I was not sure about how to display the finished piece and I decided to create an oversized hanger to hang the work.
 
Fabric and home furnishings represent comfort and security of the ideal home. A blanket can be luxurious and comforting. A hand-made quilt represents history, connection and love. Fabric is also the sports pennant, the politically incorrect t-shirt, the scorched work shirt, the physical embodiment of the domestic discord, the realm of women’s work. Each piece of fabric brings to mind narratives, associations, characters, eras. I have found that working with fabric to be conducive to my wide-ranging interests. 
 
For the most part, I have chosen to stretch my pieces and present them as paintings. The composition of my pieces is restrained and minimal. There is physical and conceptual tension in my work. I refer to restraint and a desire for release through the use of closures such as zippers, buttons, lacing, garters and belts. The closures link elements that are discordant; the winter of wool to the spring of a striped t-shirt, the purity of good-girl gingham tied up with the bad girl glitz of lamé. 
 
I just hope that they understand the message I am conveying. I hope that they can enter the piece and connect with it visually and conceptually.
 
I have a deep personal connection to “100 Sad Stories”. The other piece in the show “No Real Closure” is a bit more humorous. I created a very superficial and shallow closure in this piece and it reminded me of the lack of closure we often experience in life. It makes a reference to a somewhat hackneyed psychological term. Sometimes no matter how much we examine an experience we can never comprehend its true implications.
 
My personal website is: aschumacher.online. There is a variety of work, drawings, painting, and prints from many decades.

Kathy Sullivan
​
I started making felted animals about five years ago. I had been doing small crocheted animals but decided to give this technique a try. I was surprised at the flexibility of this medium. I could make just about any kind of little animal, either very realistic or more fanciful. I have always enjoyed making little people and animals. It is sort of like bringing a children's book to life. I had a small puppet theater in the 80's which also satisfied this desire to make little 3-D people and animals. They are a nice way to express my love of costume and character creation.

​

​Rob Watt
 
I've doing art for a long time. I graduated from CC as an Art Studio Major 40 years ago. I got into fibers by accident, through Tom Lundberg of CSU. I used to do landscapes, pen and ink and watercolor. I transferred my skills to embroidery, I like the color and detail I can get. I've been doing embroidery for about 30 years. 
 
I feel fulfilled when I'm working on something; I'm doing something worthwhile and enjoyable. 
 
I'm continuing to be inspired by everything I come across. 
 
After I come up with a design, I transfer it to Dupioni silk. I use DMC embroidery thread and do straight stitching first, and then couching-stitches perpendicular - on top of the other stitches. That's when I can get variation in color and tone and add detail. 
 
I hope people enjoy my work. It's gratifying when people really connect to a piece. 
 
I belonged to a co-op in Denver; SPARK Gallery. Their website is: www.sparkgallery.com
 

We asked the artists selected for our “Recycled Art” Show the following questions:
 
1)In a short paragraph, tell us about yourself
2)With your recycled materials, tell us about your process. Walk us through the steps to achieve one of your works from sourcing the materials to completing the work for display or use.
3)What is your favorite piece for sale at this event? And why? 
4)What has inspired you to apply for this show? 
5)Where can we find your work: website, social media, local stores.
 
 
What follows are responses we received and images of some of the work you’ll see in this show.


Joel Lugo
As a child I was surrounded by art and music as well as a deep culture and a diverse background, This pushed me to expand my horizons and tap in to the amazing world of painting.
 
I collect old snowboards that are not rideable. I get the boards from friends, family, the Goodwill and some local snowboard companies. I clean them up and add my inspired Colorado art work into them. I also add a protective clear coating.
 
All my pieces are unique and one of a kind, I will be adding my Pikes Peak Snowboard. I will also have a few pieces available for inventory in case this piece sells. 

What has inspired you to apply for this show? 
The distinction and originality that this shows brings.
 
Where can we find your work: website, social media, local stores. www.jlugoscreation.com
 
 
 
Shannon McGarraugh
 My first recollection, in knowing that I was a creative, was enhanced by my living on an old farm built in 1926. I spent many hours collecting the colorful pieces of broken glass, digging in the dirt for rusty objects, shards, and arrowheads. I relished exploring bones, feathers, and eggshells as well. Consoled by a Jumbo Coloring book, my mother used it in an attempt to keep me inside and quieted down.
Since those childhood days I have gone on to acquire a BFA in studio art with a concentration in fiber/textiles. I am a self-taught painter and quilter. My greatest success came in the 1980’s when painting on clothing was popular. It was an honor to sell my items all over the country including Disney Land, The Gene Autry Western Museum, Toney Lama and art meccas such as Aspen, Vail, Santa Fe, Taos, Los Angeles, and New York to name a few. I am a “jack of all trades and master of none”.
 
Being a collector over the years I began to have to start facing downsizing. It was time to start ridding myself of “stuff”. I just couldn’t let go of some beautiful objects—so I decided to start recycling those things into art.
 
The process for creating my pieces is a very long one. But basically, I dig through lots of “stuff” at flea markets, my house, other people’s houses, the dirt, visiting nature, resale stores and on and on. Sometimes the object gives me the idea and other times I have no idea where each individual piece will end up. It is very much like the work of a woodworker. There is a lot cleaning, deconstruction and then reconstruction. This can include sanding, refinishing, distressing, rusting, painting, nailing, drilling, screwing, gluing, tacking, cutting, sawing, soldering, and starting over!
 
My favorite piece that will be in the show is the one I call the Modern Angel. I think it is because one would not necessary identify the pieces applied to the object. It has a mouth harp on the front and old-fashioned ceiling tile embellishment. The tile is a replica of the original and made of a plastic. It feels inviting and open. I also enjoy that less is often more.
 

Inspiration for entering this show came from my daughter. I supported her and encouraged her to continue her music from age 8 to the present day. She started sending me the information on the show and “pushed” until I sent in the forms. “This is what you do isn’t it?”, she said.
 
My work can be found on Facebook and Instagram by searching my name: Shannon McGarraugh
 
 
 
 
Monica Y. Parker
I am a Colorado native, born and raised in Springs, but I have traveled and lived all over the U.S.
 
I come from a very large family and all of us are artists. We are motley crew of musicians and visual artists.
 
I have always been interested in creating art. Even from a young age I liked working with my hands. As an adult I have more access to resources and find that has fed my need to create. I love to use recycled products found objects and even trash a lot of my other artwork includes jewelry, mobiles, coasters made from recycled vinyl albums, up cycled furniture and suitcases. I am also a photographer and I love music.
 
Well, do i have to pick just one [favorite piece]? There was a time I felt like I was always being followed by a little black cloud, like in the cartoons only you couldn't see mine. Then I heard Ma, my mother-in-law say "sometimes baby girl you just have to learn to laugh at yourself cause there is nothing you can do to change it". So, I did and I made me a little black rain cloud and hung it over my seat, and every time I see it it makes me giggle inside. And I love the whimsy of both the cloud and the mushrooms. As soon as I see an interesting shape of a bowl or a vase I get super excited to get home and make something neat.

Just laugh at yourself. figured it out, keep your childlike imagination and look for the good in everything instead of the bad. They are just small reminders and both the mushrooms and the clouds just make me happy.
 
I am always creating something, and I love to share my stuff it is a great way to move beyond my circle of friends and family and this is also the first time ever doing something like this so it will be a new experience that I can learn from. And the art itself inspires me, all of the colors, styles, mediums and combined creativity of other artists. And this gallery that celebrates and showcases the variety and unique talents of so many different artists. That inspires me. 
 
If you would like to see more of my stuff you can find me on different social media sites.
Www.facebook.com/hippiechick08
Facebook-Monica Parker The Crafty Bartender
Monica Parker - The Photographer
Instagram-Thehippiecchick
Etsy - Monica Parker The Crafty Bartender
 
 
 
Don Seidel
I have always had an interest in making my own art. In my younger years I was an award-winning professional photographer. I then spent 30 years in the corporate world of healthcare. Recently retired, I have more time to return to creating art, this time around as a sculptor. I have just started this new artistic journey, and the two sculptures in the show are among my first efforts.
 
“Radialhead” is a cylinder head from a 1973 motorcycle that I happened to have in my spare parts. Recently I pulled it out, cleaned it up and realized that it’s a really cool metal art object. I also had a piece of red flagstone and together they looked right. The effect I wanted to create was something metallic flowing out of the earth. The cool part is that the “Radialhead” is also a musical instrument if you run your fingernails against the fins!
 
The second sculpture “Sun Mountain” is a representation of the spirit of Pikes Peak. The rock was found along the Rampart Range fault line and is millions of years old. The flying goddess is a 1930’s era car hood ornament that symbolizes freedom, flight and victory. This sculpture was the first of mine to use an independent stand so that the rock would be off the ground and three dimensional.
 
Generally, my favorite piece of work is the last one that I did. But for this show my favorite would have to be the “Radialhead” because it is the first sculpture that I completed, and it motivated me to continue my artistic vision.

I am currently working on a series of sculptures using 1950’s hood ornaments with natural native rock formations to evoke a feeling of other planetary worlds being visited by chrome flying machines and flying goddesses.
 
All of the material in my sculptures are recycled either from manmade metal or from the earth. This recycled show is a perfect forum for my rock metal art
 
 
 
 
Darla Slee
Since childhood I have had an unquenchable creative spark. Whether I was drawing characters to cut out and play with or sculpting tiny doughnuts and pizzas from modeling clay, I was always making something. At some point, much later in life, I came across various electronic components and was fascinated by the intricate patterns of circuit boards and simple elegance of vacuum tubes. I began tinkering and ended up with some very unique pieces of jewelry.
 
Many of the materials I use come from discarded motherboards or hard drives. People will just give away these things once they’re obsolete. I also save any materials that look neat to me, like bottle caps. I have everything organized into various plastic bins. When I decide to make a new piece I’ll dig through these, holding up objects next to each other and imagining what they’d look like as a necklace or earrings or something else. I have a variety of tools to work with and can solder, hammer, drill, or saw the materials into whatever I wish.
 
It’s hard to hard to say what my favorite piece at this show is. I think my earrings made with the red bits of circuit board best represent what I do.
 

I had heard of the Recycled Art show in years past and this year I am fortunate enough to be a part of it. My jewelry made from recycled electronic components seemed like a natural fit.
 
I have an Etsy store called “darlatronic”, and a few pieces at Art 111.
 
 
 
Barb St. Clair
I have been painting since I was 10 years old. During the most productive years, I painted on everything from miniature furniture to full size pieces, antique coffee percolators, stools and anything I could find that was interesting. I like very busy detailed designs and I have even painted every scroll on the surface of antique oak chairs with a different pattern. I painted for 60 years but after the financial crash of 2008, things quit selling. Also, about 20 years ago my husband and I started an antique business and when rustic country products were popular we made barn wood bird houses and put antique door hardware, toys, and many kinds of bits on the bird houses. After the interest in that died down, I discovered that I had drawers full of interesting old “things” that were too good to just get rid of. I love working with different patterns and textures and colors, so I got the idea to make collages with the pieces. I also have added foreign coins and paper currencies left over from my husband’s foreign travels. The first collages I made were with personal items from our lives and then I expanded using all sorts of materials. I think the results are pleasing and I enjoy making them. I hope other people like them also.
 
It took time to figure out how to make the collages, so they would be sturdy and secure. I ended up using foam core board for the background and wire to hold most pieces on. I also used super glue to add extra strength to items. I have made several in shadow boxes that protect the items better and keep them clean, but I love the way the ornate frames help add to the richness of the entire feeling of the pieces.
 
Of the two that were accepted into this show, this is my favorite because it is large, ornate, and interesting.
 

I was inspired to apply for the recycled art show because I had not explored finding a venue for these collages yet, and before I put more time and energy into making them, I am curious to see if people liked them. I also find items made in the past to be rich in design and quality and I feel they should be appreciated in some way still.
 
The only way I can currently be contacted is by phone or email. My phone number is 719-389-1461, and email is [email protected]
 
 
 
Leslie Thompson
I started getting into art at a very early age. My mother was very creative, so it came naturally, and she fed my creativity with finger paints, clay, colored paper and of course, Elmer’s glue! I majored in art in college but have made my living through other jobs. Whenever I tried to support myself with my art my creative juices would freeze up and I would be at a loss. So, I would skip the starving artist bit and do it in my free time. I have sold many, many “Glass from the Past” pieces, mostly in Crested Butte. I have 3 pieces left, one of which is being entered into the show. All the rest are in private collectors’ homes or offices and I am keeping 2 for myself. My old dumps now are where they’ve built condos so my glass supply ran out.
 
While living in Crested Butte, Colorado for a year and a half, I discovered numerous old dumps rom the 1800’s- 1960’s. Shards of glass, silverware, buttons, bottles and jars. The purple and royal blue glass were my favorite to discover and it was also the rarest to find. Actually, red was almost impossible to find. I never dug up the dirt in the dumpsites. They were large enough I didn’t have to and after every good soaking rain storm or snow, the natural erosion would unearth new pieces. I would take big white pickle buckets out to the sites and fill them about 1/2 full. Otherwise it was too heavy to carry back home. I would rinse the majority of the soil off with a hose in the back yard. Then I’d take the buckets, with clean water, sit in my living room and scrub each piece by piece with an old toothbrush, rinse it and let them dry. Once I had enough clean glass I would methodically arrange the glass into jars (with cork tops). These jars were of all sizes and shaped. I would lay pieces into the jar to emphasize the color of the piece of glass when it would be back lit. Windowsills were/are the best place to show off and get the most enjoyment of the colors and shapes. Old broken bottle necks, the top of the lid, I’d lay those in such a way so you could see through the top of the neck. It’s kind of hard to describe. You’ve gotta see it to appreciate it!

I am grateful I have a show to present my final piece that I am willing to part with. One collector called them “garbage in a jar”! I got a kick out of that.


What inspired me to enter this show? I check out the art entries section of The Independent often. This theme was right up my alley. I have 3 pieces left of this project which I created for years.
 



 
Metal Gutz Turner
My name is Chris Turner, I have always been an artist. As a kid I started out drawing and playing with Lego's. Now that I'm an older kid, I play with the Gutz of machinery and a welder. As a Small Engine Mechanic, I can source a lot of parts. I also have a few mechanic friends that throw me parts. Once I got a welder, all the junk I had laying around, became sculptures. Most of those sculptures were given to my friends. Those are the friends that pushed me into selling. It was hard to sell the first few sculptures, because I knew I would never see them again. Yes, there is an attachment to the art. 
 
Because of where I get my parts, I named the company Metal Gutz Turner. I take the larger parts of the machinery and dig out the Gutz. This means most of the parts are saturated in oil or grease. I have to sweat out the oil with heat before I can get a good weld to the part. Most of my sculptures parts have already been made. I lay out the parts and modify it to be what I see. Weld together, wire wheel it, and then clear coat it.
 
The Duck is my favorite sculpture in the bunch. I found that similar artists follow and challenge each other, on Instagram. The Duck was my 1st entry into the #metal------challenge (#MetalDuckChallenge). I tried to impress, and the parts just made themselves. A lot of detail, with minimal effort.
 

​I wanted to start selling, but what was the first step? I was scrolling through the Independent and saw the ad for the show. I did a little research and decided I would try it out. I know Manitou is one of the hubs for Colorado Artist's. What better place to start? What the Commonwheel Co-op requires to enter their show, is what kicked me into creating Metal Gutz Turner LLC.
 
[email protected] / [email protected] / MetalGutzTurner.com(not set up yet).