Old damper found at a flea market - I liked its form.

I collect some odd stuff for my artwork. Not only am I am inveterate collector of all kinds of craft supplies – everything from paints to wool roving, sequins to charms, glues, stickers, you-name-it.

But then I collect bits and pieces of rusted hardware (that I may have unearthed in the garden), old bottles, various small figurines, beat-up silverware, driftwood, interesting rocks, old keys, watch parts, acorns & seed pods, sardine cans, wine corks, broken jewelry, and belt buckles, to name a few. Any one of these may become the “perfect” embellishment I’m looking for at some point.

One of my favorite bits in the stockpile is a very rusty damper (for a stovepipe), and I will find a use for it…eventually. I keep trying to work it into every piece I start on, but it’s fairly large heavy and hasn’t found its true home yet.

Then there are the things I pick up in a thrift shop, or at the dollar store when I can’t locate the right recycled item – such as the bag of plastic toy snakes purchased the other day to add some dimension to an image of the Medusa inside a pocket shrine. You wouldn’t think some goofy plastic snakes would be exciting enough to become a treasure to me, but well, that’s the way it is. You can see the result for yourself, how I used them. Of course their garish colors had to be altered some; which is why assemblage is also called “altered art.”

What kind of items do you collect to use for artwork? What is the weirdest item you have saved?

Cut-up plastic snakes got painted and glued inside a pocket shrine to give the image some dimensional "pop."

Image is from a painting by Caravaggio...with fake snakes added.