Creative Reuse

I've always been enchanted by art that finds a creative expression for otherwise mundane or discarded items. Art of assemblage, whether expressed as diorama, art car, mosaic, collage--the wide diversity of materials and  endless possibilities excite me. Combination of color, texture and shape, found objects, serendipity.

Today I'll share a few of the Creative Reuse Depots to be found in the Greater SF Bay Area.

Recology - Art at the SF Dump, with an artist-in-residence program; gives tours!

East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, 4695 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, CA

Scrap, Scrounger's Center for Reusable Art Parts, Toland Street, SF, CA

RAFT, Resource Area for Teachers, San Jose and Redwood City, CA

Recycled Building Materials

Ohmega Salvage, 2407 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA "architectural salvage"

Building Resources, 701 Amador Street, SF, CA

Urban ore, 900 Murray St., Berkeley, CA

And, well, it's not "hoarders" and it's not "antiques Roadshow"...it's "American Pickers", a TV series I've begun watching, primarily b/c these guys are out there in middle America, finding treasures in people's backyards, barns, garages and dump heaps. I am a little bit sobered by the glee with which these guys readily rip-off (profit) from the little old timers whose cherished and savored collected junk they abscond with. There are some really neat finds. Some really great rust! But the excitement over buying a 60 year old leather saddle for $75 dollars and having it appraised in the thousands, is both real and ... well I feel for the 90+year old who relinquished his saddle for so little, when these guys are seeing both an intrinsic value and the big giant DOLLAR SIGNS. I dunno. I'm still on the fence on this. The cool junk, meeting the old Folks from America--that's alright. Somehow the profiteering aspect rankles me. Another Person's Trash...

Telegraph Road - In Shades of Green and Black and Green

It was raining when I shot these photos, so it might feel a bit wet as you gaze through my camera's rain splashed lens. Driving home from BLS after New Years Day, I made the traditional "stretch your legs" stop at Telegraph Road. I've posted photos from this area, these very landmarks before, so they may seem familiar. What I wanted to show though, was how green the area is again, after the grass fire from July 4th, 2010.

The falling stone walls, chinese-laborer built speak to me of hard-working history. And even in disrepair, they enchant me, reminding of Robert Frost's poem, Mending Wall.

I especially worried about the palm tree after the grass fire; it appeared to have been rather scorched.  But you can readily see the burns on the trunk, and looking closely and you'll see the few green leaves, atop the decay,  testifying to the live status of this old monocot.

Grey

The creek winds along Telegraph Road. There's really good fig that grows there too, I think the figs ripen in ... Sept? Mmmm. One year, I worried I wouldn't have tasty fig treats here--the creek had swollen its banks, carrying away part of the road. The fig tree suffered, but slowly recovered in the intervening years. The photo below shows the creek while I crossed it...where it flowed freely over the road. Love It!