for the past 5 years my daughters have run a summer art camp for girls. it's not ordinary by any means. by that i mean that they don't run off to the local arts and crafts stores to purchase the status quo art products. rather, they gather bits and pieces of our lives throughout the year and collect things (old wrapping paper, ribbons, beads, baubles, discarded bottle caps, string and old dried flowers and "you get the picture")...nothing of "value" is thrown away in our house but rather it's tossed into our "this and that" wooden crates awaiting a future yet untold. above and below you can see the beauty that unfolds during their camps. about 90% of their projects are made from recycled materials. after their first camp, a friend of theirs stopped by, and expecting to see simple art projects, instead declared, "this is gourmet art".  girl...was she right!!!

mixed media piece using tissue paper

self-portrait using mixed media

bulletin board using recycled materials

graffiti boards/street art

button bowls drying

finished button bowls