RECYCLED STEEL TO SCULPTURES
Jill Torberson builds sculptures out of everything from household objects to heavy equipment parts as Weld Metal Works (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Her steel Pods (above), 10-inch-tall to 3-foot-tall wall hangings ($85 to $400, depending on size), are accented with red acrylic paint and would look great in a loft or a ranch house alike.
VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS AND EPHEMERA TO COLLAGES
If framed ancestors bore you, hang one of Greg Hanson’s shadowbox assemblages ($140 for No. 30) that he fabricates as Portraits Alive (portraitsalivepdx.com ). His wacky storytelling pieces are also sold at Cannibals (518 N.W. 21st Ave., 503-224-BONE) in Northwest Portland.
CRUSHED CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS TO SHRINES
Alicia justus builds little shrines such as this cuckoo-clock-top accented homage ($200) to her great-great-grandmother, Mattie Noe, which is crafted inside a pre-1950s cardboard box. Her work is available at Cannibals (518 N.W. 21st Ave., 503-224-BONE).
RECYCLED SWEATERS TO “PAINTINGS”
Jenna Robertson whips up “canvases” as part of her Woolie Originals line (503-422-5175 or go to woolieoriginals.com). The abstract landscape Land and Sky ($350) features hand-drawn and cut wool pieces sewn onto a sweater background and stretched over a frame. Her paintings can also be seen at Tilde (7919 S.E. 13th Ave., 503-234-9600) in Portland.
PLASTIC BAGS, BUBBLE WRAP AND TAPE TO SCULPTURES
Olympia, Wash.-based eco-artist Diane Kurzyna makes neo-folk art as her alter ego, Ruby Re-Usable (rubyreusable.com and rubyreusable.etsy.com). We give four paws up to her Upcycle Plastic Bag Puppy Dog (below), a 13-inch-long, 11-inch-high, 9-inch-wide canine ($75) that never needs walking. (This piece reinvents Cost Plus World Market shopping bags; the hot dog on p. 60 is crafted from Wonder Bread bags!) The former home energy specialist has a BFA in fiber arts from the University of Washington, but she creates her work from recycled and reused pre- and post- consumer waste materials to live by her personal motto: MAKE ART, NOT WASTE!
RECYCLED SINKS AND WINDOW SCREENS TO TUTUS
Tualatin, Ore.-based Marta Ferris (503-638-7313 or go to martaferris.com ) loves to makes garden art from recycled materials. She can pound out a 28-by-30-inch tutu from a recycled stainless steel sink and a window screen, or craft a garden bell ($125 to $200) from recycled materials such as air compressor tanks, plow disks, street lights and other found objects.
RECLAIMED WINDOWS TO PAINTINGS
Portlander Puji Sherer has established a following for her sweetly simple birds, stylized flowers and organic shapes that she paints on vintage bubbly glassed windows. Check out her canvases ($175 to $260) at Noun (3300 S.E. Belmont St., 503-235-0078) in Portland.
7,800 WINGNUTS TO SCULPTURES

Portlander Brian Mock (503-643-6413 or go to brianmock.com) welds things such as 7,800 wingnuts into an 80-inch-tall sculpture of a winged woman or found industrial scrap metal into spot-on, footlong to 40-inch-long D.O.G. (Done Out of Garage) dogs. His work costs $400 to $10,000, depending on its size and complexity.
VINTAGE VELVET AND TATTERED SHOES TO 18TH CENTURY FRENCH FOOTWEAR
Pumps from Goodwill become shoe-ins for footwear belonging to Marie Antoinette in the hands of Elizabeth Johnson. She embellishes worn heels with old velvets and silks and other vintage embellishments. Her decorative shoes ($120 per shoe, $225 per pair) are available at Bernadette Breu (1338 S.E. Sixth Ave., 503-226-6565) in Portland.
16MM FILM, CORDS AND THREADS TO SCULPTURES
Olympia, Wash.-based Gail Tremblay, a member of the Onondaga and Micmac nations of New York, fabricates “baskets” that combine traditional techniques of weaving with contemporary materials. Her vessels ($900 to $3,000) are sold at the Froelick Gallery (714 N.W. Davis St., 503-222-1142) in Portland.
—S.M.D.
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