Art Materials (STUFF)

Hello Readers,

Where on earth can you find a rubber kidney, a big domino, an old view camera film carrier, game pieces, wood pieces, metal pieces, glass, ephemera, antique like what-not, and a tin wind-up chicken all in the same place?  Well first off you may not actually find those things in that combination since I already did; but, you may find something even better or in a stranger combination.

I wanted to take a short detour from my usual type of art materials post and focus on what I think of as, "what else," is art material.  Recently I went on a short jaunt from ABQ to Santa Fe in search of who-knows-what and found it/some/stuff.  Expectations where high and low and what I learned prior to visiting filled my brain with ideas and things to buy.

Recycled, upcyced- whatever you want to call it- there is a lot of stuff out there to make, include in, or just inspire your artwork.  All the, "stuff," I got came from an artist; Laura Stanziola. Just outside Santa Fe is where she made her home into what looks like a overwhelming well organized store/residence. Inside this store I found many wonderful things, and many things I did not buy- for I had a budget.  Gratefully the prices of these many odd things were not excessive, and for the most part surprisingly inexpensive.

Rubber kidney, rubber intestines, and a rubber heart all 35 cents each. Various game pieces for just pocket change. 75 cents for twin wooden sticks- I thought the price could have been a quarter cheaper but I really liked them. Film carrier- so many ideas. Old marbled paper. A Ceder box. And of course the wind-up chicken.

All right the chicken isn't art material; I just wanted it. Besides that, imagine everything that I can make using a rubber kidney.

Thanks for reading,
Jonathan Parks