Nancy Martini's Eco Message to students in England

Students in England study my work to create their own eco art exhibit!

"Hope: An Ocean of Peace"

Last week, I got an email from a teacher in England. She told me that at the school where she teaches they were having a eco day at their school. They were researching eco artists on the internet and came across my work. They looked at my YouTube videos and my website to understand how I created my art and then they created paintings to replicate my painting called: "Hope: An Ocean of Peace."

Featured about are the beautiful painting made by 8 and 9 year old artists from Pebsham CP in East Sussex, England. Guided by their supportive and creative teacher, Karen Lindsay, the students saved reclaimed materials for three weeks prior to creating their works of art.

I was so proud of the art the children created that I took this photo of the student's art and I displayed it next to my paintings at my last art show for the Arts of St. Johns' in Miami Beach called Divine Debris.

The students' work are as beautiful as they are expressive. I believe that the earlier children understand the importance of using reclaimed materials the more they will naturally acquire the habit of reusing everything before putting materials in the recycle bin or the trash can.

I really enjoy talking to students and I think it is everyone's responsibility to nurture and guide children whenever they reach out to us. For this reason, I decided to send the students at Pebsham a video response to encourage them to keep thinking green and to congratulate their efforts.

My video response to the eco art students...

Divine Debris or Reclaimed Responsibility?

June 15th at 7pm is the opening reception of the Arts of St. John's Divine Debris & Glorious Trash and I am very proud to be exhibiting along with other local ecoartists at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens. I have been working with reclaimed materials for as long as I have been creating art and I am so happy that it is finally something that other artists are now willing to try.

Trash? I realize that some artists that use reclaimed materials sort through dumpsters, but with so much trash surrounding me I don't need to search for trash... the trash comes to me or is discarded along my path. Somehow all sorts of materials find me. The only exception is when I am working on a project where I need a commonly used material, like foil for example, I usually just ask a few friends to save some for me and they are happy to help me and the environment and kindly leave it on my front porch.

I live on a busy street and trash is constantly falling off trucks and landing in my front garden. Last summer when the city put in water pipes all down my street and left metal straps all over my garden, I didn't call the city and complain with the rest of my neighbors. I just quietly cleaned my yard and tried to think what I could use the metal straps for. After consulting with a really creative friend, my family used the metal with some reclaimed wood collected from old garage doors to build a treehouse for our children. We were able to build it without using nails that would damage the tree. The metal was wrapped around the wood against the tree in a corset like construction. And yes... I checked with the tree experts first. It will not hurt the tree and will be removed in five years to allow for growth.

It's not that I see trash and see beauty like some artists do. I see the trash and think: what can I do? How can I use that material differently? How can I make a tiny difference? Plus, I'm not exactly the type of person that takes the easy, straight, paved road. I try many times, but it just does't fit because I get distracted, bored or uncomfortable.

I hope you come out to the exhibit, especially Tuesday night for the opening. I will be there along with the other artists to share ideas and possibilities. For me, using reclaimed materials is not about trash at all. It's about sharing ideas of how to think in new ways to live better lives; how to help the environment and to think about how to be responsible for everything we use, touch and discard.

nancymartini.com

Video Tour of Ecoart Part 2

See how I use reclaimed materials retrieved from the trash can or recycle bin to create my ecoart. Scroll down to see Part 1 or go to youtube.com/TheEcoArtist.

Tour my studio - using repurposed materials to create eco art (Part 1)