Artist Spotlight: Adaptive Reuse

There are artists that work from scrap materials, and there are others, like Christine Terrell, who is completely living the reuse lifestyle.  It’s an incredibly satisfying, resource-saving and budget-smart way to live.  Christine’s company, Adaptive Reuse, creates art, jewelry and other objects using unique, but mass-produced materials in an unexpected way.Once a bona fide scrapper homes in on a potential material, they are really insatiable in it’s acquisition.  Her materials of choice are food tins, spice and tea tins, both vintage and contemporary.  These printed tins are collected, flattened and sorted.  I love the way they become a library of colors, patterns and short vignettes from which to choose.  The jewelry she creates is also beautifully made, as she is a self-proclaimed technique junkie.All of the pieces are really intriguing, but one of my favorites is this partly sunny pair of earrings. They play nicely on our mind/mood swings and the fickle nature that is apparent in how human beings see things.Christine Terrell’s extreme artistic resourcefulness finds its way into her encaustic paintings as well.  The remnants of her jewelry work create a multitude of stencils, which then provide the basis for the paintings.  Or, repetitive process meets repetitive process, like two mirrors facing each other and recycling into perpetuity.

The beer tab hanger on the back is absolutely brilliant and rounds out the whole conversation.  I definitely look forward to see what Christine does next in the realm of adaptive reuse.