The sun was out this morning when I woke up. What a glorious event! Those of us who live in the Northwest have learned to make the very best of the rare winter days when the sun blesses us with its company and/or it isn't raining! So I finally got out in the yard to do a bit of gardening I have been postponing due to the cold and rainy weather.

Speaking of gardening, here is the first 3-D piece I ever made from mostly recycled, found parts. I call her "Garden Muse", and she came to life so that I could gift her to one of my art buddies, Lenall, in our Portland Art Collective recycled art swap last year.

Her base is a candlestick holder I enjoyed finding at the Goodwill bins, and which I patina'd (Is that a word?). I found her "head" along side the house where the previous owner must have tossed it. It is an old style metal sprinkler head for a hose, and I rusted it then coiled copper and gold plated wires and stuck them in the little holes to create her hair.

Garden Muse evolved from there as I took bits of this and that I found in the yard or in my studio. Things like earrings I had purchased at an antique shop, an old glasses lens sample to cover a stamped face image, "wings" from an old steamer basket, a half acorn shaped like a heart from the yard, etc. I either patina'd or rusted most of these items to help them look more aged.

Here is a closer look at her base...

The woman who received "Garden Muse", Lenall, is a wonderful watercolor artist, and here is a link to her website...www.lenall.com.

Here is a photo of the fantastic bird feeder made of 99% recycled parts that I received from Judi in the swap.

I'm off to tackle a small corner of my studio re-organization, so will say farewell for now.