A "Transformed Treasure" in Progress

The tale of the "Trash to Treasure" art piece....

I was invited to participate in a fundraiser called "Transformed Tresures". It's purpose is to raise funds for Salvation Army & its many facets. It's right up my alley as you get to use junk, er treasure, you may have collected & turn it into something someone might pay big bucks for at an auction. I recruited my friend & fellow-artist, Sherrill, to help me shop & create. We'd like to have our piece in the live auction as it usually raises more money for the non-profit & the pieces tend to be more interesting & high calibar. Hopefully we'll meet these expectations.

This is a cool event because they also give the artists $50 in coupons to spend at the army outlets. Whoo- Hoo! It's unusual for a non-profit to give anything to the donating artists ~ I've donated hundreds of pieces to non-profit events. I'm such a push-over & after many years I still find it hard to say "no" especially when they're giving us money (OK ~ coupons) to spend!

Sherrill & I started with an UGLY 3 drawer chest. It had been painted many times, had no handles/knobs, was really ugly (oh, I said that already). The pros of this chest are that it's a nice size, is all wood & we thought it had potential to be a great piece of furniture for a lucky buyer's home. So far the transformation has included paint inside & out, mosaic to the top, creative knobs & more so stay tuned!

Here's a close-up of the top.

Sherrill found some plates that grapes & leaves around the edge so I used these as a border on the top of the chest. I also bought a round, handpainted, trivet for 50 cents & a large platter with grapes & wine labels for $20 ~ which seemed high but was good shape. Looks like we have a grape & wine theme going. The mosiac will be grouted after the mastic is dry.

We're hoping to finish this piece up in the next couple of weeks when Sherrill is back in Anchorage. It's taking up space in the studio & goodness knows I need the space for the next project.

I'm curious about how other artists organize their materials & work space. I like to think I'm organized but when I'm working on a particular piece things get messy! Hummm....something to contemplate.