December 2011
Travel, Adventure & Hobby Out Of The Landfill
December 2011 Artist
of the Month is: Alison Whalen Title: Chef with Finiky Cat
upbeattimespress.pdf 1 11/21/11 2:59 PM
SONOMA COUNTY, CA. ~ A few years ago, a dealer in my antiques shop brought in a bag of wine foils to spice up one of her vignettes. Fascinated, I watched as she dumped them into a large white porcelain bowl, and the stunning result was like an Wine foils never cease to inspire me. I hunt for them with the same passion that other collectors search for fine silver or porcelain. I love their unique designs and col- ors, and the ease with which they can be sculpted figurally. The ideas for incorporating these throw-away jewels into art are limitless. Many times I have bought a bottle of wine just for the foil. When I remove a foil from a bottle neck, I often instinc- tively know what it's going to become in its next incarna- tion. I might use a champagne foil for a stage curtain or an evening dress.
The iridescence of a bronze-
toned wine foil instantly reminds me of the patina of stringed instruments under stage lights, and a seed is planted for a wine foil string quartet. Solid black foils for tuxedos and music stands, wire champagne cork cages for the musicians' seats...I've got all the necessary ingre- dients for my next project! By now, all my friends know to save
their
wine foils for me, and some
of
the local restaurants allow me access to their glass recyclables. Being a natural born scavenger, I'm just in heaven while I'm rummaging through their bottle stashes and pulling off all those foils. Sadly, the traditional soft metal wine foil is becoming a relic of the past,
Pg 28
And Onto The Wall! by Alison Whalen
as more and more vintners are switching to plastic foils and screw caps. Unfortunately, neither of these materials are suitable for the type of art- work I create. The plastic foils don't hold their shape, and the edges of the hard metal screw cap foils are too stiff and sharp to manipulate. After suffer- ing a few nasty cuts, I gave up on them. (Being
a
violinist, I'd like to keep all 10 dig- its intact!) All
wine
and cham- pagne foil donations are greatly appreci- ated. I even use the tops that are usu-
ally cut off and discarded after a bottle is opened. Why toss them into the landfill when they can be incorporated into beautiful works of art! More?
www.bigalsartgallery.com
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28 • December 2011 • UPBEAT TIMES Special:
10% OFF All Sevices Over $200.
www.tltilletts.com 1426 PETALUMA HILL RD. SANTA ROSA, CA 95404 At Christmas, all roads lead home. ~Marjorie Holmes
send us a pdf, jpg or digital photo at high resolution and we will choose one of you to be our feature artist of the month. Once chosen, we will have gift certificate ready to pick up at Riley Street Art Supply! Send to
upbeat@upbeattimes.com
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