Winter 2003
In This Issue:
Ptolemy's Hubcap Sculptures
Fish made from hubcaps by Ptolemy |
What do you do with used hubcaps? The more purposeful among us might
hang them on walls or use them to serve food, but artist Ptolemy
Elrington (known simply as Ptolemy) of Brighton, England has created
sculptures with them for six years. Originally, he set out to fashion a
suit of armor, but got sidetracked making marine and creatures. As you
can imagine, these pieces are large: Sizes are mostly 1'-6', but may
range from 6" for a shark and 25 feet for a dragon.
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Hubcaps come from
various places: Ptolemy picks them up along the side of the road; friends
and family have begun to save some for him, and now strangers, who have
seen him in a magazine or tv, bring them to him. As he feels strongly
about "our culture's lack of appreciation of the nature of value," he
finds the hubcap gifts "very encouraging."
See more of these creations at Hubcap Creatures:
http://www.hubcapcreatures.com |
Hubcap husky by Ptolemy |
Cici Hughes -- Ornament Pioneer
Ever since custom moved Christmas trees indoors in the early twentieth
century, people have decorated then to make the season more festive.
While the first decorations were made by hand, now most of us buy
ornaments to supplement any passed on by family members. Cici Hughes
had a different vision: In 1973, to fill time on her hands, she
constructed and painted Christmas ornaments from towel and toilet paper
paper tubes and clothespins. I know, it doesn't sound amazing, but they
are, and you can make them, too. Friends asked to buy them and
encouraged her to sell them commercially. She did -- Lord & Taylor in
Virginia bought hundreds and the act of producing them took over her
home. After two years, she opted out of the ornaments business to
explore other design projects. See our Crafts section
to learn how to make them for your own tree.
Newspaper Sleeves Repurposed
Knoxville (Tennessee) News Sentinel columnist Sam Venable recently
compiled suggestions from the paper's readers about how they use (and
reuse) the plastic sleeves in which they receive their newspapers on
rainy days. Readers enthusiastically wrote in with ideas ranging from
using them to dispose of dirty diapers, to protect themselves from
poison ivy, and to store bread. To see the entire article he wrote o
October 16, visit the Knoxville News site:
http://www.knoxnews.com
More In The News -- And We Mean It Literally
Recently the "Hints From Heloise" column in The Washington Post printed
instructions for making logs from newspapers using a simple
rolling/wetting/drying method. The idea has been around for a while --
a friend who used to make them in the 1060s said that these instructions
are an improvement on his method because the logs will probably stay
together longer when they are burning. In addition, it is a good way to
use up newspapers -- which apparently do not decompose in landfills as
we thought they did. William Rathje, noted professional urban
archeologist, has discovered that there is a lack of newspaper rotting
in landfills because they are too well-sealed and too dry.
Unfortunately, Mr. Rathje has found newspapers dating back to 1952 in
pristine condition on his "digs." (See
http://www.newint.org/issue227/update.htm.)
Also, the film "Talking Trash" by Jennifer and Leslie Schwerin (1993) highlights Dr. Rathje's
findings. To learn to make your own logs, visit Heloise's website for
full instructions. http://www.heloise.com/kitchenmaid.html
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