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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

altered driftwood

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In my opinion anything can be transformed into art. I have been painting and altering driftwood for years and when I moved back to the Oregon Coast (where there is more driftwood than you ever could imagine!) I started collecting and altering my findings with the goal of building up a collection that I could turn into art and display in my new studio/classroom space. 


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I started by collecting lots of driftwood- if you don't have driftwood available sticks or twigs will work just fine.

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I then used scraps of hand painted fabric and wrapped the scraps around the wood, applying Tacky Glue to the surface as I wrapped.


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I wrapped colorful embroidery floss around the surface to create a stripe of color- gluing the floss as I wrapped.


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The result is a colorful and fun altered piece of driftwood.


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I then created wood wrapped with yarn and embroidery floss.



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I even created a variety of painted driftwood by first painting stripes and then adding embellishments with Scribbles 3-D Paint (MY FAVORITE SUPPLY!)



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At this point you are probably saying to yourself- those are pretty but what the heck are you supposed to do with a whole bunch of altered sticks?!?! Well, with a little creativity there are all kinds of things you could do but my vision all along was to fill a variety of large glass jars with my artful driftwood and display them around my studio. I used large jars (3-4 foot) and filled them up and placed them around the room. I like to think of them as a unique nature inspired art piece.



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I also created small mobiles to hang above my work space.




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I have been so obsessed with altering driftwood that I started collecting LARGE pieces and decorating the surface with the same techniques and using them as art around my space.

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With just a few supplies, something simple is suddenly transformed into art! 


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33 comments:

  1. These are beautiful, Alisa, and a great memory of the retreat.
    I'll have to look for larger pieces in Vancouver.
    Hope you received my email with the photos.
    Cheers,
    Vicki

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  2. They look so effective in that large jar...great idea! That large one you are holding makes me think of a didgeridoo, an Australian Aboriginal instrument.

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  3. bellissimi e molto gioiosi

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  4. no words. you are amazing.

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  5. I love this idea and how beautiful they turned out. Great idea to put them in the large jar, like a rainbow of color in each one. The large one is awesome, where are you putting it?

    Thanks for sharing how you did these, will give it a try with some sticks.

    WOW WOW WOW to the geometric pumpkins below, they are so COOL!!! I love the way you make everything into art.

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  6. Fantastic! It remembers the ausralian aboriginal art but is so fresh and.. Alysa's style!

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  7. Love the idea of the drift wood. We have a cottage and one year I collected all kinds of cool sticks to turn into hangers for art quilts. I never did. I will now have to revisit my collection.
    You have such great creative ideas - I am so glad you are living your dream. Someday I will make it to the West Coast!

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  8. I love these, and since I don't live near where I can pick these up I would love to see some for sale...

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  9. What a great idea Alisa. I have lots of driftwood and lots of unused embroidery floss. The big one especially is excellent!AriadnefromGreece!

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  10. Love the driftwood - can see all kinds of possibilities there.

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  11. Anonymous6:34 AM

    Beautiful - they look very Australian Aboriginal ie digereedoos

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  12. Another great idea! I don't know if I mention this before your previous posts but I like the new look of your blog; the header is super cute.

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  13. What an amazing and fun idea! This would be a fun project to do with kids! I'm itchin' to go out and get some twigs and see what my daughter and I can create! Thanks!

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  14. My favorite is the big one! The mobile is also quite colorful and fun. Your ideas are so original.

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  15. Love this idea. Thank you for sharing your ideas so generously. Also, the pumpkins were wonderful! Can't wait to find some sticks and give it a go! Christie

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  16. These are wonderful...I need to gather some twigs immediately! I love the mobile and the really big piece too!

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  17. We are moving to FL and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can find on the beaches there, hoping for some driftwood pieces.. these are great ideas.. yours are so beautiful! Thks for inspiring me yet again! love these!

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  18. What a really clever idea! So simple and yet fun and elegant!!

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  19. LOVE this, so fun!!!

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  20. Love it. Thats wonderful.

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  21. These are gorgeous - No driftwood here, but I love painting sticks as well - so many possibilities!

    PS: Lovely new blog design! x

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  22. Anonymous9:55 AM

    Greetings from Finland and rainy, but smashing fall days.

    I just bumped here through another blog(jokkemaa). I was stunned and highly impressed that someone values nature´s simple beauty so much that wants to decorate and highlight its uniqueness. This blog and those twings made my day. Actually my older daughter has been doing same thing as you collecting twigs and wrapping yarn over them.

    Tuesday evening hugs,siperoinen

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  23. Wow, creative as always! Love this Alisa!

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  24. you are truly an inspirational, amazing woman -- I cannot beieve your creativity and everything is so doable -- thanks again Alisa --

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  25. This is great! Wonderfull wood ideas to decorate or just enjoy doing it. I love it.

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  26. its an amazing idea. i am thinking to do this on the long pieces of sea shells , what do u say !? at least i can paint them with colors, if not yarns ! :)

    thanks for being there and inspiring us !

    love.

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  27. quilteveryday5:55 AM

    I am going to have to walk in the woods this weekend and pick up sticks. I love the idea and will obsess about it until I do it. It happened last fall with the pumpkins. Thanks for being so generous with your creativity, and I love seeing your family, too.

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  28. Love them, especially the painted ones

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  29. I was inspired by your driftwood to sculpt a few pieces of faux driftwood out of polymer clay. Instead of fabric, I used polymer clay canes. For throwing something together quickly, I loved how they came out. I plan on making more and taking my time with the texture and color. Thank you for the inspiration and sharing your wonderful art.

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  30. Just wanted to share that I created something similar to these after a recent trip to CO. Thanks to your post I knew to search for driftwood and other treasures to use once I returned home! Stop by and see if you have a chance! http://trishnonaka.blogspot.com/2012/10/memory-sticks.html

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  31. Anonymous11:51 AM

    I want to paint large pieces of drift wood. What kind of paint is best and how do I preserve the wood so it will not decay. I want these pieces for indoor and out door. Anyone? Thanks

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