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The now heavily used term "recycled" may be fairly new
(made popular in the last few decades), but the practice itself is not.
Furniture, houses, towns, and even palaces & temples have been built
from previously cut, shaped and used materials for ages. Many
commercial papers contain a percentage of recycled paper pulp.
Some paper even contains cotton and other fibers from old rags and
clothing. Many of the nicest quilts are made from strips and
squares of cloth taken from old clothing, curtains, and other cloth
items. Glass has been recycled for ages. And the list goes
on. In my own experience,
I've enjoyed building wooden tables, chests, benches and stools from
recycled wood. And I've also taken old chair parts and scraps and
rebuilt them into new chairs. And I've had the joy of remodeling
the interior of an old house.
There is a special pleasure for me in
taking something discarded, something considered useless and worthless,
and reworking it to reveal the great beauty and value still in it.
Why tear it down, throw it away, or toss it aside when so much potential
still remains?
We tend to give up on things too readily.
Right: Detail from the figure I'm now
working on of Captain Clark above.
Built on a wooden skeletal frame,
much of
the body and surface
material is applied with a putty
knife. But some paper is
also layered in strips, in a papier-mâché technique. |
Above: Simple waste basket made of
old newspaper dries before applying final coats of paper and finish.
more info...
Below: Life size figure of Captain William
Clark (Lewis & Clark) is made largely of recycled paper, mixed
with other materials.
see
finished work
see the
completed figure
More recycling ideas
Woodworking
Project:
Build a Simple Stool |
