A photo of a corkboard in my studio where I keep various rusty things, computer parts and odds and ends.

Old industrial structure on 34th St.

Rusty newspaper box.

Some rusty things on the roof of the office building I work in.

Wheel of a lunch truck- combining two of my favorite things- circular patterns and rust.

I love rusty painted things like this dumpster I found outside 30th St. Station. One of my many planned projects is making a set of custom photoshop brushes based on rusty things and other textures. Not that there aren’t lots of lovely rusty texture photoshop brushes out there, but I want my own! When I get around to it…One of these days…

A peeling billboard. Beautiful layers and rust.

I tend to keep my scavanging instinct in check, because I live in an apartment and my “studio” is actually the “foyer,” a tiny 10×8 room. There just isn’t space. My boyfriend helps keep me on the straight and narrow. When we go for walks around our neighborhood he has an impressive knack for somehow knowing when I am eying a stack of moldy books or grimy old windows that someone left out by the curb. And he usually dissuades me from picking up whatever it is and lugging it home. But he’s also always willing to help with the lugging if we come across something good. Such as an entire box of white ceramic tiles that I plan to make collaged coasters from one of these days. One time we found a huge wire spinning display rack that will be perfect for showing my prints at craft shows. The thing is taller than I am and must weigh 50 lbs. It is horribly unwieldy to carry, but he carried it all the way home for me, gaining god knows how many bruises in the process. Now that’s love.

I digress. The scavenging instinct has been in full swing lately, particularly on my morning walks to work. I collected these items just this morning:

Adding to a burgeoning collection at my desk of various found items (and a few defunct computer bits given to me by coworkers who have become aware of my tendency to collect things like that):

As I start work on my Capstone project, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking and reading about the collecting of objects. Or, perhaps more accurately, I am just getting started on a huge stack of books and articles related to the collecting of objects. And trying to puzzle out questions such as what does it mean to collect objects? Why do people collect things? How is meaning made from objects, how is art made from ordinary objects? I think perhaps all of this has re-awoken my packrat instinct. I’ve been collecting these little metal odds and ends with plans to take a jewelry/metalsmithing class when I am done with my MLA, and incorporate them somehow in original jewelry designs. I love the idea of taking something old, found on the ground, worthless, and making something new and interesting of it.

(Originally posted on http://jenmccleary.blogspot.com)