Bringing Home Bricolage

Anne Willson 

It feels like it's been ages since Bricolage, a Greensboro community arts space offering re-purposed materials for local artists and arts workshops by local artists closed it's doors after just 2 years.

From Wikipedia :: The term “bricolage” is borrowed from the French word bricolage, from the verb bricoler, the core meaning in French being, "fiddle, tinker" and, by extension, "to make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are at hand (regardless of their original purpose)". A person who engages in bricolage is a bricoleur.

I am a bricoleur. And even though Bricolage is closed :: and I will not be able to pop in to see Anne Willson's smiling face . . . what she taught me will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Anne had a vision. She offered our community an eco and people friendly environment to explore creativity.

John Skau's Wood Strips

In her own words "The mission of Bricolage is to inspire and support creativity in the Piedmont Triad. We achieve this by providing low-cost re-purposed materials, workshops, affordable space for creative activities, and projects that generate the production of new art works by community members. Our programs support residents of all ages and skill levels to experience creativity so as to strengthen the individuals and their communities, and to help sustain our local cultural resources."

Helping the community.

I had the honor to work with Anne on John Skau’s Wood: A Point of Departure.

John Skau, a respected world renowned local artist passed away in October of 2007, leaving behind a shop full of materials he would have used to create his amazing works. John’s wife, Judy West, donated much of the wood to Bricolage - with the hopes of literally weaving John’s wood into the community. Anne, Lynne and Myself worked together with over 20+ local artists to honor John's memory. We were his weavers. We were Bricoleurs.

So when I went shopping at Bricolage for the last time. . .

I wanted to bring Bricolage home. I wanted to surround my self with things that would remind me of the friendships I gained, the lessons in giving I learned . . . and the motto that Anne had on display in the window that gave me, and probably many others, that boost that we needed every single visit . . .


"What would you do if you knew you would never fail?"

DIY : Aged Paper Frames

Project Library is coming along nicely. It's one part therapy and one part I'm addicted to DIY projects. . . seriously - ask my husband.

I'm a thrift store junkie and love discovering fun items to hack into something awesome. Take these mismatched wooden frames for example. . . found these last year at a local dollar store and bought 12 of them. (mirrors included). I really didn't know what I was going to do with them at the time.

I recently made a book purse and saved the "guts" of the book (purchased for $2.00 at Goodwill) then it all came together. . .



:: Materials :: 

• wooden frames 
• Elmers Glue All 
• warm water
• plastic container with lid
• old tooth brush
• small paint brush
• cookie sheet or metal tray
• old book pages
• coffee
• large baking dish
• clear matter or gloss spray paint

:: Directions for Aging Paper :: 

• in large baking dish pour 1 cup coffee (warm)

• take pages from old book and soak until wet then place on cookie sheet

• "bake" paper at 350 for 2 minutes or until no longer damp and dry over night (DIY on how to age paper here)

:: Directions for Application to Frames ::

• Mix equal parts Elmers glue and warm water in plastic container and stir throughly

• Depending on size of frame fold aged book pages in half then half again to form 4 strips approx 1.5" wide

• With small paint brush "paint" glue on aged paper on a metal cookie sheet (trust me this will save you) until limp

• Prime frame with a brush of glue and carefully place paper on frame - taking time to wrap paper around edges (this will be sticky and be sure to wash your hands frequently to avoid glue debris that can stick to paper) use the toothbrush to smooth out any air bubbles.

• "Bake" frame at 350* for 2 minutes (carefully watch this process, you don't want to burn your house down) - if the frame is too big for the oven you can use a hair dryer. 

• Dry frames over night then coat with a clear matte or gloss spray paint.

Voila! You now have an aged frame that didn't break the bank!

For those looking to make a bigger statement you can also "paper" a wall and age it with tinted Briwax for added interest, or cover canvases then stencil your initials or your favorite quote . . .  like this one ::

The purpose - where I start - is the idea of use. It is not recycling, it's reuse.  - Issey Miyake

---

What fun things have you done with aged paper?