Wednesday 17 February 2010

Theme Thursday - Bell


Distances
Swifts turn in the heights of the air;
higher still turn the invisible stars.
When day withdraws to the ends of the earth
their fires shine on a dark expanse of sand.
We live in a world of motion and distance.
The heart flies from tree to bird,
from bird to distant star,
from star to love; and love grows
in the quiet house, turning and working,
servant of thought, a lamp held in one hand.
~ Philippe Jaccottet ~

This week Theme Thursday's Theme is Bells.  I am a little early, c'est la vie!

I have always been an environmetalist at heart but not necessarily very good at it.  I am conscientious about what I do not buy, and try to recycle as much as I can.  Making the switch over from plastic bags at shops to canvas bags really made me notice how one action by one household can make such a difference.  The recent Indian Winter series of documentaries on the BBC  which focused on the slums of Mumbai and how entire families will work a whole day on the recycling dumps for the rest of the world, for a single meal  has driven it home to me that recycling really is not enough.   Most of these places do not have any sanitation or running water and infections are high.  The families working in these conditions would probably be better off in a sweat shop where at least they would take home a wage and have use of a bathroom. I am opposed to sweat shops and a supporter of 'worker behind the label'.

The connection to Bells is that my favourite objects to upcycle right now are whiskey boxes.  They have the best size and shape although I have been upcycling anything I can get my hands on from  cocoa tins to pringle tubes.  Often, I do these projects in front of the telly when I am too tired to make felt or read a book. I like to write poetry on some of these tubes.  Above you will see one of the tubes has been inscribed with the mesmorising verses of Philippe Jaccottet.  All in all, I don't worry too much about these projects being a piece of art.  Aesthetic is good enough for me.  I find the verse, colour and patterns that evolve  meditatitive.

To see other interpretations of this theme please visit my friends at Theme Thursday.

31 comments:

Jasmine said...

Blogger has hidden my spell checker. Apologies for any mistakes guys xJ

Annette Tait said...

Hi Jasmine,
thanks for asking about the three buls Pooty, Spotty and LessSpotty.
They are safe now! They had 100 people donate to help them and had a little to make up for the cheque, but the 3 boys are safe for life now! Jodi and Dan are working on buying them hay and food and the big budget for that. the farmer also hadn't bothered to vaccinate any of the boys so that had to be done too!

What a lovely way to reuse a whisky container! and your hearts in the park are magical, I am sure they brought a smile and hope to many :)

Sparklyjools said...

Love your recycling idea for containers!
I so agree with your comments. Things designed to make our lives easier in the west always mean more waste and worse conditions elsewhere. I try, but am always conscious I could do more. Beautiful poem too x

PS Sorry you're still having spellcheck problems, did changing the editor not work?

Caio Fern said...

yes , sure , I am very upsat with your spell mistakes , lady .
don't you know to write ? go to my blog and learn the correct way to spell the words .
do i have to be the good example for everything ?

i liked very much your idea and this litle production is wonderful .

about enviroment attitude : the best , and only right thing we can do is changing our everyday life and doing what must to be done . as you do for instance . and do not eating meet , do not wearing leather , do not buying products made with material fron tropical countrys , as furnitures ....
i always tell people to never help any institution , suporting with money or even working as a volutarie .
i see all this good institutions that say have helped poor people in 3rd world countrys , helped to save forests . animals in fase of extinction ..... well , i am fron one of those poor cautrys , and have visited Amazonia few times .
it is all a huge lie . all the institutions just have political and economical issues . even the volutaries don't see this and you can't blame then . but it is true , what all those groups , organizations , institutions and even lots of religions have made in Brazil is a real crime against the humanity and the wild life . with suport of the local government that is extremely corrupt or not .
go vegan and save the planet living your life .

ArtSparker said...

Here we have a place called "The Depot for Creative Reuse", The round tins that quaker oats come in are very popular with school teachers.

Brian Miller said...

love that verse and your ideas on upcycling as well...

Anonymous said...

I love the reuse of your Pringles cans...very resourceful. We have been recycling plastic coffee tubs into drums for the grandkids and their schools. Great work you are doing here : )

Manon said...

I try to do as much as I possibly can. It's amazing how much we can reuse, recycle and donate.
I adore your *Bells*!! So creative!!

Wildflowerhouse said...

Hi Jasmine, I have not fallen off the face of the earth, although it feels like it. So many projects so little time.LOL I save thse funny round cheese boxes and paint them up and give little gifts in them. I love to reuse things. My mind is always figuring what I can do with this and that. Maybe that's why I have so many projects. Ha, Sharon

Catherine V. Bainbridge said...

Good for you! Mainstream fashion has alot on it's conscience! This is part of our ethic with our label bainbridge&houseberg (coming properly later this year) to minimize our ecological foot print as a design label and ensure our customers that no sweat shop activities have helped produce our art/wear products. Great links!

Celeste Bergin said...

I agree with Ciao...it is just terrible that you are not spelling correctly. Awful. haha.

Exceptional recycling idea for containers and
Poem is lovely

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of the poems on the bottles. I've steins that only indicate "sayings". Nicely done and I can see your captcha fine, here...

Yvette said...

love this!

(in a hurry sorry)

love

tony said...

ReCyled is not only morally good, but as you show, It makes things more personal /unique & Valuable.Bravo! (although,I have to say, I prefer Paddy's Whiskey myself!)

Forthvalley scribe said...

I love the poem, and the containers are beautiful. There is a site for the UK - Labour Behind the Label, which I follow, also a connection with War on Want which does an anti-sweat-shop thing. Thanks for the links you sent me, I'll be following them up.

Unknown said...

Just love this idea!

Vicky x

Harnett-Hargrove said...

Hello Jasmine, an enlightening post, good read.
I don't know how I missed the valentines post til now! I love the sneaky tree valentines... a mystery and joy to others.
Hey they call me... Miss-spelling, too.
-J

Sandra said...

I love your recycled art! I know from now on I'll see all kinds of opportunities in the waste bin.
Here in the Netherlands, we are separating waste at home: glass, paper, vegetalble materials and now since this year plastic as well. I was shocked at the enormous amount of platic I had collected over two weeks. Especially, as I am trying to be careful in what I buy, always have my own canvas shopping bag with me. But some products are wrapped up in plastic beside the paperbox they are already in. Something that I don't understand. You know, I would be happy to go to the shop with my own bottle to let it fill there, with milk or shampoo etc.

brandi said...

~creative little mind you have...who would have thought a whiskey container could hold so much beauty...wonderful idea...brightest blessings~

Betsy Brock said...

Ringing a bell for Barry today! :)

Lickety Splitter said...

I recycle plastic, glass, clothes, household goods, etc. when I can, and encourage other people to do so, but I should do a better job. I never thought to make anything out of Pringle containers. Thanks for that idea. I love the idea of writing poetry on the containers.

Fiona said...

Those are lovely. Better than the originals by far. At least that packaging can be used again. Perhaps Bells would be interested to see what you are doing with their redundant packaging.

JeffScape said...

I tend to be the same way... vehemently supporting initiatives to save the environment, but then finding myself tossing plastic into regular garbage.

I'll get to work on that.

Jasmine said...

Thank you for all of your comments. It is fun to read about how each of us do things similarly, or differently but have shared values.

I have a confession, not any of these tubes are Bells. My partner likes single malt but only had some as a new year treat, the rest were donated by friends and family. I don't really like whiskey unless its Irish and has a lot of mixer which i hear is a terrible way to treat whiskey? :)

Acornmoon said...

Those whisky cartons are too nice to throw away, I agree. So much of our packaging is so beautifully made, chocolate boxes, biscuit tins etc. Like you I try my best not to waste and to recycle where I can and yet my bin gets full each week.

Tess Kincaid said...

Lovely Pringle cans. I like to cover those types of cardboard containers, as well. Cornmeal and grits containers make nice ones.

Anne said...

bell-issima:)))

Terrace Crawford said...

Nicely done. What a beautiful craft.

Ringing the Bell for Barry today: http://bit.ly/awIPJm
Clang, Clang!

--Terrace Crawford
www.terracecrawford.com
www.twitter.com/terracecrawford

e said...

Lovely post, Jasmine!

Baino said...

Great idea for the boxes although not sure what you'd use them for? Gift wrapping? I like the term 'upcycling' as well. We're big reducers, reusers and recyclers here ..especially beer bottles! Ooh you have a Bainbridge commenter! I wonder if we're related.

Shayna said...

I love the charming new life you've given to these containers! (I have eight round cheese boxes in waiting ~!~)