Stone, Leather, Glass

Painted Running Shoes

It was time to prepare for one of the local Charities to send their truck by for a pick-up of reusable clothing and bric-a-brac. The bulging, large, brown paper grocery bags formed a tilting line along the wall in the extra bedroom. One nudge would have scattered the whole mess like a string of dominoes.

But what was this? An old pair of my leather running shoes peeked from the top of a bag reminding me that I had been wanting to paint an old pair of shoes, and I don't mean paint a picture of them. I just wanted to paint the shoes.

Yesterday I did that. Oh sure, I learned that the craft paints weren't vivid enough, and I combined acrylic paints from the tubes to get the color strong enough, but believe me, I had a good time.

The shoe laces took a quick swim through some food coloring mixed with diluted acrylic paint and came out a reasonable color.

As Dr. Seuss said in one of his books, "Oh the places I will go" -- I can hardly wait to have these shoes take me out and lead a new life on these old feet. Oh boy.

How will this color wear? I don't know. I only know that the paint is waterproof and other than that it is a big experiment. Sold

More Painted Running Shoes

Sometimes once is never quite enough.

Cork-covered Mail Box

Don't throw away those corks from your wine bottles. They can have another life. I covered a standard metal mailbox with corks using a glue gun. That was six years before this picture was taken and the glue gun cement has held up. I sprayed the finished mailbox with exterior polyurethane spray. A wine label was cemented on each side of the mailbox flag.

Snakeskin Cowboy Boot Bird House

When a friend was throwing out quite a few pair of worn cowboy boots, I was there catching them. I wanted to make a birdhouse from them and this is what I came up with. It took a plastic margarine container (my how I love those margarine containers); to hold the boot in a nice round open position. The sheet copper cone was simple to make and I soldered the seam where the copper overlapped. I made four of these birdhouses, putting the entrances in different places depending on the stitching of the boot. I am currently waiting for the first feathered tenants to move in.

Lens Curtains

I was given 40 pounds of eyeglass lenses made of untempered glass. I sandwiched colored beads, ground colored glass powders, glass threads and broken glass chunks between the matched pairs of lenses and fired them in my kiln. Small pieces of copper wire bent into hanging loops were fired in the same operation. I used these for a beaded curtain on a high bathroom window. Our son used quite a few of the unfired lenses to make half-dome shaped hanging lamps.

Bottles and Chain

Small glass liquor bottles issued by Airlines were collected and hung on this chain. The labels were protected with a coat of clear plastic paint.

Bottles on a Rack

More small glass liquor bottles issued by Airlines were collected and hung on a rusted rack. The labels were protected with a coat of clear plastic paint.

Agate Bird House

A bird house is enhanced with translucent agate stones and a copper roof.

Assembly of Tin Cans

A set of tin cans ready to be turned into tin men

Tin Men in Production

Get enough tin cans of the correct sizes and you can make youe own little tin men!

Tin Man with Patina

When you leave your tin man out in the environment he will age and begin rusting. I find this only adds to the character of the piece. Besides, Dorothy might come by some day with an oil can!

Rock Picture - Stone Collage

It was a late afternoon with a threatening sky when we drove the road to Montana del Oro Beach, near San Luis Obispo, on the Pacific Coast. The road passed through a rural landscape with grazing cattle. By the time we reached the beach the rain was falling. I hastily scooped up a bucket full of rocks and made a run for the car. These unique beach stones are very lightweight with lovely neutral colors and feel like they have been dusted with talcum powder.

Hibachi Bird Bath

What to do with an old, rusted hibachi grill? line it with mortar and inset bits of polished stone and glass.

Copper Bird House

Button Birdhouse

Dressing up a birdhouse with old buttons from my button jar.