Found materials are so much fun to find and use. They might be something literally picked up off the street, or found in a thrift store, garage sale, flea market or even in the attic or junk drawer. I love playing with discarded bottles, drinking glasses, window panes, even landscaping glass.
Here are five reasons to use found materials:
- Cost – by their very definition found materials are free, or nearly so .
- Eco-Friendly – no additional impact to the environment.
- Element of adventure – what will you find? where will you find it? how will you incorporate it into your art/craft?
- Outside your box – found materials have a special way of stretching, they introduce a different, possibly new ways of thinking of a piece.
- Adding to a history – my favorite thing about found materials is that they had a life before they came into my hands. When I use a found bottle, I think about the process to fill that bottle, about the person who drank the bottle, who discarded the bottle.
