Patti Edmon Artist

The only thing more fun than raiding the fridge is decorating it. Making magnets is one of my favorite art projects and I just shipped this small batch off to Third Street Stuff, in downtown Lexington, to see if they attract any passers-by.  I don't know about yours, but my ancient white Kenmore looks like a study in some subcultural group that, if found in hundreds of years, would likely cause super-genius scientists to scratch their big, green, globe-shaped heads. I mean, We specialize in beans, with a vintage Texan couple? Mother heads bobbing in a coffee cup with wings - what does that have to do with finest fit and quality?! A large-headed chick in curlers and a prom dress...    I guess the point is that they don't make sense and that's why making them is so darned much fun. Finding old puzzles with pieces big enough to fit all the 'stuff' on isn't easy, so if anyone has a stash, I'll be glad to take them off your hands! I have enough found objects, but...

Space in the Altered Attic is at a premium, the bins are overflowing  and there's stuff every where I turn, piles, stacks, boxes full of trinkets and other found objects spilling out over the tops of shelves. Spring cleaning? Heck no, but I can hear the birds singing outside the windows, on the days that it's 65 instead of 35 degrees. So, I continue to ignore the obvious, which is the enormous amount of time I'd probably save by getting organized, and use all my 'extra' time to play. Last week I posted a small collage I'd done - a coffee cup filled with flowers, coffee beans, buttons... everything but coffee. And, what's with the birds? I don't know that the two necessarily 'go' together, but I wanted to find some elements I could use to experiment with color, texture and process. Using the same color themes to create different finished pieces, like a magnet made from a recycled puzzle piece and trimmed with beads and charms. I also love altering...

I started making altered art puzzle pieces long before I realized you could buy blank ones in craft stores. I found a couple of old puzzles in the basement that my kids had outgrown, i.e., with pieces large enough to paint, distress, collage, grunge, add vintage buttons, embellish with photographs, type, etc. There is a great satisfaction in making recycled art, although I admit to purchasing more than my fair share of art supplies, I'm always gathering the old stuff others discard, the kind you can read about in most every artist's book on collage, collecting, assemblage technique. I have the same feeling they described, of always having been a packrat, now I'm one with purpose.