Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle - in the art studio

I try to apply these values as much as possible in my everyday life, and also in my art practice.

All my mixed media and assemblage work uses at least some reused and recycled materials - whether that be broken jewellery, old car phone chargers, broken toys, bottle tops, left over DIY items etc. All the copper wire I use I reclaimed from old electrical cable - that thick grey stuff, used especially for electric cookers, has great gauge copper wire inside. I save interesting items, find various objects and my family and friends have now gotten into the habit of saving items for me - anything really that has an interesting shape! My sister even stripped down a broken printer to get loads of interesting pieces for me. Lots of cogs and gears for that steampunk and industrial feel! 

I also consider this in my painting. Fluid art can be quite wasteful and very messy. However all the paint that flows off the sides of my paintings, I save in jars and end up with some beautiful greys and blues to use as base colours in future paintings. I have a huge waterproof reusable table cloth which I use under my painting so it's easy to save the paint and to clean up. I don't use wet wipes - I have a few old cloths and old tea towels. I usually have a couple of damp ones and a dry one beside me when I'm painting, and I minimise the amount of paper towels I use. Instead of mixing my paints in disposable plastic cups, I make up my colours in reusable squeeze bottles, in which the paint will last months. For large batches of base colours I use jugs, which can be cleaned easily and reused - I have found that if you let the paint dry you can usually peel it out and this further reduces the amount of water needed to clean. 

I minimise the amount of paint being washed down the sink - acrylic paint may be non-toxic, but at the end of the day, it is a plastic. I am looking into more ways to deal with paint water in a more environmentally friendly way, that will also work with my limited space - for example evaporation or filtering techniques.

These are just few of the small things I currently do, but I hope to continue to develop my art practice in a sustainable earth friendly way as much as possible.