Bauble Time

I call them Holiday Baubles, but the process begins long before they become ornaments.

Each bauble starts with a simple craft ornament and a collection of locally sourced, recycled materials: leftover craft paint, acrylic, oil, latex, and other remnants that might otherwise be discarded. The first stage is intentionally uncomplicated. Paint is poured, tilted, turned, and allowed to move on its own. It is a slow, meditative practice, but one simple enough that a child can participate. There is very little control involved. Gravity, color, movement, and chance do most of the work.

What runs off the baubles is not treated as waste.

Old art paper is gathered and placed beneath the work, becoming the foundation for the next stage of the process. Paint drips, pools, overlaps, dries, and is layered again as more baubles are made. Over time, these sheets become hundreds of small organic works of their own, almost like monoprints created through repetition and accident. Marks from one object become the beginning of another.

Eventually, the paper is cut and gathered into fragments. Those fragments are used to make holiday and year-round gratitude cards, each incorporating a small piece of original artwork.

The process becomes circular: discarded materials become paint, paint becomes baubles, excess paint becomes paper works, and those works become something meant to be given away.

Very little is wasted. Nothing has to begin as precious to become meaningful.