“Button, button, who’s got the button?”
By Ginger Brashinger
view, until it is truly worn out. That’s a lesson begun in childhood.
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“I had my own notion of what a scavenger hunt was,” Biesen said about her earliest recycling memo- ries. “I would get out our wagon and go door-to-door asking neigh- bors for their old stuff. Empty per- fume bottles, bric-a-brac, those were treasures to me.”
When growing up Biesen spied an old barrel filled with hundreds of moldy buttons, she immediately asked the owner if she could have it, “just like a 10-year-old.”
“I couldn’t help myself,” Biesen laughs.
Serendipity - Her recycling instincts kicked in as she pondered what to do with all those buttons. Coupled with her life-long artistic bent (“I knew from a young age that I saw things differently from other peo- ple”), she began to create individ- ual pieces of art - art with a past as well as a future.
am Biesen is a born recy- cler. Nothing, but nothing, should be discarded, in her
Biesen, granted an Illinois Artisan designation in 2009, creates artistic impact with a handful of antique buttons and a saucy sprinkling of bling buttons for a melding of past and present.
“A common button from 150 years ago becomes completely modern and trendy,” Biesen noted.
Her personal research has afforded Biesen the uncanny ability to pick up a button, any button, and re- veal where and when it was made, as well as the media from which it was created. That ability has led to her designing “heirloom bracelets” which, in turn, allows others with a family stash of buttons to have them recycled into wearable art.
Everything is fodder for the artistic and the recycling mill, even on the business side of things. It’s not un- usual to see Biesen “garbage pick- ing” for her display stands, her favorite find being a candy rack she picked up on her Route 66 tour. As for her button quests, Biesen pe- ruses antique and resale stores, at- tends auctions, and makes use of the ultimate “eco-friendly shopping
experience – eBay” for new finds.
So many buttons, so little time.
“My high school art teacher told us that an artist does not reuse mate- rials,” Biesen recalled. “Even as a compliant 16-year-old, I knew there was something wrong with that statement.”
Happily, Biesen has never lived ac- cording to that philosophy. Her art reflects her life.
“Button, button, who’s got the button?” The age of a button does not
always determine its value. Bakelite buttons, which were
made until 1970, are presently ranked No. 1 in value and might well be sitting in Mom’s sewing basket. Chinas,
jet, picture buttons
(metal buttons with pictures painted on them), and celluloids from the Victorian era rank second as desirable buttons. Biesen’s newest artistic pursuits
are original fabric designs using natural materials and recyclable wrapping paper.
ADistinctive style 67
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