Although I'm not in my studio as much as I'd like to be, I am still wrapped up in the process of assembling from old pieces of junk. I've always enjoyed saving things from the trash bin and have amassed quite a collection of stuff that most people would definitely have thrown away. Luckily I have a very generous work space and can afford to not be very choosy about what I keep. Surely at some point this will catch up with me, but I always imagine I'll find some use for those old bamboo blinds, wooden (and beautifully stained pink) strawberry containers, all sorts of recycled papers, bits of fabric from old curtains and clothes. I feel a great deal of satisfaction when the "junk" can be somehow incorporated into a piece of what I call art.


So the wooden pieces continue to emerge and I seem to have plenty of materials that beg to be finally put to use. I may soon be ready to bring out the paints and brushes, but for now I am happily working.

Barbara Bartlett