Category Archives: Art

NEW DATE: Thursday, January 16th, 2014

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This winter’s Rubbish Renewed Eco-Fashion Show Thursday, January 16th, 2014

With the loss of the Century Center as an indoor event venue, Rubbish Renewed set out, last spring, on a quest for a new space.  We explored dozens of spots, all with different assets and challenges.  Although not quite ready to reveal our decision, we have narrowed our search to several intriguing locations.  This exciting announcement is imminent.

The venue search has created the opportunity for us to try a less hectic time that we always wondered about.  January16th has many of the desirable aspects of our December date.  We are holding onto our coveted, winter Thursday; late enough in the week for a good party, but doesn’t conflict with weekend getaways.  Our pre-show photo shoot will happen again with a chance for a sneak peak prior to the event (also to be revealed soon).

A January date offers new prospects too.  Later in the winter allows artists more time creating.  For me, I loathe to be inside during the summer and fall, when I need to be starting my garments.  As the weather changes the sewing cave calls.  Artists often have numerous opportunities at the holidays to showcase their wares; January opens up new timing in an often-slow month.  January is also a lull in “our” social calendar, a time when a festive, fashion forward affair will entice the community out to play.

So, take a breath. Enjoy the extra time.  And look forward to our upcoming venue announcement.  And for Artist, Business Challenge prospects, and Marketplace vendors, paperwork will be posted Monday, October 14th on our blog under the submission forms tab.

Save the date!  Thursday, January 16th, 2014

Virtual Inspiration

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The turn in the weather here in Bend initiates a switch in my brain to focus on some of the inside passions I’ve been neglecting.  The crisp air, the sudden deluge of rain, the yellow-orange sumac leaves in my yard get me thinking about texture, color & design.Image

Last week, with a mug of mint tea in hand, I logged onto my laptop and began scrolling through my Pinterest “boards.”  Although I don’t have a TV, nor a cell phone, I do love my internet.

I started with texture as my first “board” on Pinterest, a place where I store images I’ve snatched from others that inspire the sense of touch.  Another topic in my collection is color, storage for visually vibrant pictures, and a third “board” focuses on positive and negative space.  I use these virtual “boards” to gather and hold inspiration.  I also “pin” fashion.  Dresses, details, rubbish, all of it. Image

Access to inspiration has skyrocketed with the Internet offering instant gratification. It’s transformed my process.  However, I did just buy a massive fashion magazine.  There’s something about flipping through the glossy pages, cutting my fingers, and the perfume sneezes that make me smile.

The last few evenings after work I’ve been down in my sewing cavern, a mug of hot tea on the shelf, an audio book playing in the background, my Pinterest “boards” open, exploring materials, shapes, color and design. Getting inspired.  Image

Cascade A & E hits the stands today!

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Cascade A & E, the local Bend magazine devoted entirely to recognizing and promoting the vibrant cultural life found in Central Oregon hit the stands today.  Pick up your copy and check out the December happenings in Central Oregon, including the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show – just 8 days away!

Have you ever imagined . . .?

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Necklaces, zipper pulls, and earrings are the creations made by “Just A Little Charm” out of copper salvaged from the old Bend Bulletin’s roof.

Bend, Oregon is an incredibly cool place to live.  Although the community has grown substantially since I moved here in 2000, it still has a small town feel.  Walking downtown, I always bump into someone I know eager to engage in a meaningful discussion.  People here not only hold “important” conversations, like how to make a difference in their community, they take action.  One approach comes from the willingness, no, eagerness to think about waste, and to do something about it in an ingenious way.  I’ve never met so many creative, capable, motivated and sustainably minded people in a small area (accept maybe Lopez Island – but that’s another story).

So have you ever thought about tiny speakers built into reused ALTOIDS tins?  Sculpted bowls formed from old records?  What about bold jewelry and accessories created from vintage Formica or salvaged roof copper?  These are just a smattering of the imaginative and well-crafted offerings available this year in the Marketplace at the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show on December 6th.  Check out these pieces for a taste of what’s to come.

N. Spekktor specializes in handmade treasures created from household items, journals, and old vinyl records.

Connect the Minty Blaster to the headphone jack on your portable music player and its built-in amplifier will provide a roomful of curiously strong, curiously hip mono sound.

Marketplace spaces are going quickly, so if you are interested, checkout the vendor submission info and grab a space before they’re gone.

Trash Fashion: an Obsession

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Plastic Obama campaign signs

I love Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show because it provides an outlet for my quirky passion – making fashion out of unconventional materials, what others might call trash.  My obsession started when, at 8, I wove a shirt out of a hodgepodge of found items: dried grass, scraps of yarn, and carded wool from my mom’s spinning basket. After that I was hooked.

The draw of trash-fashion comes from the materials themselves.  When I design, I start with the item, like old slides and film.  With the demise of film cameras, my cupboard is filled with boxes of 2nds (the slides that didn’t make the final show cut, but are still “good”).  The question arises – what could I do with them?  Make a dress of course.

Then the thrill begins.  I secretly sketch on napkins at restaurants, programs at lectures, and junk mail envelopes. I ponder how a series of hard squares might fit together on the human form, and how to attach them.  This creates months, maybe years of thrilling design time.

Finally the construction process begins.  For me it’s like rock climbing – a series of problems in front of me, some that seem impossible at first, but with patience and tenacity, in the end, I usually prevail.

Don’t miss the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show tomorrow night and see “Please don’t Take my Kodachrome Away,” by me (Karen Holm) and other artists renditions of their quirky passions.

 Thursday, December 8th, at the Century Center

Create the 2011 Community Garment

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2010 Community Garment, created during First Friday last year.

I love this time of year!  More time with family, friends, holiday parties, and the 2nd annual Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show is upon us; just 10 days away.  Along with the season’s merrymaking, we can not ignore our increased production of holiday trash. The facts about holiday waste are staggering…

  • From Thanksgiving to New Years Day, household waste increases by more than 25%. Added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons – it all adds up to an additional 1 million tons a week to our landfills. (EPA and Use Less Stuff)
  • In the U.S., annual trash from gift-wrap and shopping bags totals 4 million tons. (Use Less Stuff)

We believe in the power to educate, change, and inspire and want to invite you to come out on Friday night (December 2nd), during the First Friday festivities, to create the 2011 Community Garment.   To have a hand in this “show-stopping” number, stop by TBD Loft (upstairs at 856 NW Bond Street), and make a pledge to reduce your consumption and waste this season and for a lifetime.

Playing Card Skirt detail

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Playing Card Skirt detail

Casey, a 6th grader at REALMS, careful connected playing cards for her rubbish renewed piece.

Thursday, November 10th the deadline for the 2nd annual Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show arrived with 50 submissions for the runway!  Now the challenging jurying process begins. Twice the entries and more diverse and eclectic than last year, designs range in categories from global impact to altered extremes.  Materials like cat food bags, candy wrappers, old playing cards, negatives and slides, and even a kiddy pool are envisioned into carefully crafted environmentally savvy high fashion.  Stay tuned for coming preview pictures.  Only 4 weeks to go!