Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Rockford woman turns trash into art - WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader

Rockford woman turns trash into art - WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader



"Lori's Recycled Chic"
Another Great Etsy shop featured in the news!

By: Rebecca Klopf

ROCKFORD (WREX) - You might think of things like empty pop bottles and old window panes as trash, but one women is turning them into art. The owner of "Lori's Recycled Chic" says if its an odd shape or has an interesting design, she can remake it into a piece you'll want in your home.

"I'm the original dumpster diver," says Lori Hart-Piper.

She started creating her work 13 years ago when she saw a bunch of old window's sitting on her neighbor's curb. She decided to paint them and turn them into Reverse Glass Paintings. From there, she started heading to thrift stores flea markets and garage sales to find other items she could turn into art.

But after awhile Hart-Piper stopped going to shows and selling her work, until last year. She was asked to bring some pieces to Rockford's City Market and she said it made her want to work again.

"That was an incredible experience. It went really well. I wasn't sure if that was the right venue for my art but there were a lot of artisans there," says Hart-Piper.

Now she creates things like mirrors from old TVs, photo frames from Polaroid cameras and clocks from old records. She even uses banana holders or old candle sticks for stands and old clocks for inside of the time pieces. But if that isn't green enough, she also uses old plastic bottles, metal and newspapers to make flower lamps.

"There's a lot of mass produced, lots of the same type of thing. And if you take something old that would that would end up in the garbage and make something new and beautiful out of it, you are not only keeping it out of the landfill but you have a unique, one of a kind piece that nobody else has," says Lori Hart-Piper.

You can see more of Hart-Piper's work at spring "ArtScene" next month. You can also find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/LORIS-RECYCLED-CHIC or on Etsy.com under the shop name "Color Me Funky." The link for the Etsy page is on the side of this page.



Its so inspiring to read so many success stories.

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