I stopped creating works in this theme in June 2016. Please check the Various Other gallery for any unsold pieces.
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The Metal Art featured here is made either of recycled materials, like the soda can pull tabs, or of brand new, mass-produced items, like the grinding wheels. The inspiration for the metal art largely depends on the materials I’ve used for a projects. Pieces like The Daily Grind were inspired by merely seeing the grinding wheels while at The Home Depot. The pieces I create with the aluminum flashing pieces are both my favorite and most frustrating. The material is very easy to work with but very easy to screw up too (dings, scratches, accidental bends). Metal art made using the aluminum offers, in my opinion, the most freedom because it is so easy to bend, curl, and texture.
The Tech Art is made using recycled electronics, most of them things I used to own, were salvaged from friends, and in a few cases, salvaged from the side of the road on trash day. The inspiration for my tech art pieces comes from the years I spent working in the lower levels of the computer industry. My first “tech job” (har har) was as a sales person for Circuit City. There I was certified as a ‘computer repair & upgrade technician’ (I no longer remember what their official designation was, but that’s what I did. I left Circuit City to work for MicroCenter doing phone-based technical support. Over time I earned two Microsoft certifications. I also built several of my own computers.
These days, however, I leave the PC building and tech support to my husband. Art is better for my stress levels – but tech art lets me reminisce about the days before I became another id10t. Tech Art is an interesting challenge for me because I know what most of the components I’m using actually do. Sometimes that knowledge can be a drawback. It can be hard to see a stick of RAM as anything other than a stick of RAM. Since it has been over a decade since I worked in the computer industry (well, not that I really did per say), it’s gotten a lot easier to see these pieces as art & not just as (formerly) functional objects.
Curious about how a piece was made? Want to know where I found a particular material? Please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m more than happy to help you recreate any of the pieces here or your very own masterpiece.