I am a junkie….addicted to collecting what many would call trash….all I can see is treasure. I was not always a junkie…I used to buy beautiful new things, labels, things Martha told me I should have. But then I had the opportunity to escape the shackles of a suburban NYC lifestyle and live on Cape Cod for a year. I had the even greater opportunity to work with my Shes….digging in the dirt…”working the land” as I called it…landscaping. We would work very hard for several hours weeding, mulching, planting…then would load up the trailer for a trip to the dump and our treat for the day “The Gift House” where the unknown treasures were waiting.
Now I have come to learn that “The Gift House” is a Cape Cod phenomena…not all recycling centers have such treasures. But in Cape Cod, most of the towns recycling centers have such places…all named very creatively. It is a place where people bring items they don’t want but are still very useable. Then others can take them…for free.
There are other venues for junking…yard sales, thrift shops, auctions, The Salvation Army (SA), GoodWill. Experts come to know where the best trash can be found. When the best junking days are (hint: Sundays and Mondays after yard sales). But nothing compares to “The Gift House”.
The Shes are experts at junking. The first time I went my eyes were opened to the possibilities. My mind that had been unknowingly bound by numbers, the status quo, and commercialism was unleashed. Pandora’s Box was opened.
“Hey, look at this” a She would exclaim….I saw an big, old dimpled teapot…”Yes….,” I would say quizzically….”You could paint this and it would be an adorable vessel for flowers,” she would say. ”Oh, of course,” I would say in my head, definitely unsure. And the next day, I would show up at work and be totally envious of the adorable yellow teapot of pansies sitting on her porch. And then, my education began….the creative expansion of my mind. Thinking outside the box.
It has taken years now to develop this talent….I have introduced many friends to the joys of junking. Even the most diehard mall crawlers and label seekers have been infected. There is something sooooo rewarding about finding trash that can be repurposed into a beautiful treasure.
As a SheArtist, my most recent creative endeavor has been to make lampshades…taking lampshades from the “Gift House”, striping the fabric from them, and re-wrapping them with lengths of fabric cut from thrift shop clothing to make “ragShades”. These are displayed throughout The SheArt Network website. One of my closest Shes, Sallie Kane, also creates these shades from men’s ties. Recently, she was commissioned to create a shade for a widow From her husband’s neckties….a memory that “lights her life each day”.
A Michele Preston RagShade
I have learned some of my most valuable life lessons from junking. Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Some measure of value can be found in anything and everything. Creative expression is a talent that we all have, it just has to be nurtured and unleashed. Humility is a major virtue. Sharing is one of life’s most rewarding activities. Imagination is a gift that should be treasured. The greatest joy can be found in the simplest things. Creating something from “nothing” can bring the satisfaction of accomplishment.
The Shes changed my life by introducing me to the Fine Art of Junking.
