Artist
Understanding Sustainability Conference – Portland
It seems that it’s conference season these days. Another interesting Green event that would definitely be worth checking out is the Understanding Sustainability: Perspectives from the Humanities Conference. The event takes place May 20th through the 22nd in Portland, Oregon. It’s free and open to the public, and sure to be very educational.
Acknowledging the varied understandings of the term “sustainability,” the Understanding Sustainability conference seeks to discuss the way in which the term might be approached in a truly useful and efficient way. Through innovative dialogue and debate, the conference seeks to create or improve on green frameworks for environmental scholarship, activism, research, and policy. › Continue reading
Stylish Sustainable Furniture in Tel Aviv – Ubico Design Studio
With so much trash and waste in the world, it’s great to see individuals like Ori Ben-Zvi turning into something beautiful and useful.
With stylish and thought provoking designs, Ubico Design Studio has been converting reclaimed materials into works of functional art since February of 2008.
Materials are collected from dumpsters, renovations works and the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel with the intention of urban gathering and reclaiming.
Offering sustainable furniture and accessories from recycled materials with environmentally conscious finishes, Our focus is on generating high quality design with good craftsmanship made solely of recycled and reclaimed materials.
Chris Jordan – Environmental Awareness Photographer
I have always been fascinated with photography, its ability to tell a story in a single frame. Sustainable and environmental photography hardly ever gets its place in the spotlight, mainly because the images can be so graphic or disturbing that nobody wants to put them on their wall at home. Chris Jordan may be one of the only exceptions in this case as he is known for impactful, but artful photographic montages.
Chris Jordan has been on my radar for some time now, even before his photographs of millions of plastic bottles. Being a photographer myself (West|LaCount Photography) and given we both live in Seattle, WA – word gets around. His popularity has grown since converting what were once only statistics and numbers into visual representations so our minds can better quantify our impacts.
His latest photographic adventure, Midway – Message from the Gyre, is one of my favorites. Traveling to Midway Atoll, one of the remotest islands on earth, he set to show us how far reaching our impacts can be. Located in the North Pacific, halfway between the U.S. and Asia, he tells a story- a story of plastic. Home to over 1.5 million birds including colonies of Albatross, Frigate birds, Boobies, and Terns; it is also near the apex of the Pacific Garbage Patch.
“The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.”
Julia Failey Unique Eco Jewelry
There is something about artisan jewelry that captures me, but only when it is beautiful and unique. Julia Failey embodies that spirit with her wonderfully designed nature inspired eco jewelry. I am especially drawn to the pieces displayed below, and it was the rose vine bangles that really captured me.
Designed and crafted in her Chicago studio, Julia uses sustainable practices in creating jewelry and uses reclaimed, deoxidized sterling silver to reduce the need for destructive mining (more about eco diamonds and destructive mining practices).
Eco Friendly Reader Suggestions – Green Jewelry and Sustainable Furniture Design
When it comes to green design, there are some really cool eco-friendly artists out there doing some amazing work. Here at The Chic Ecologist, we like to bring to light some of these beautiful sustainable designs. I have had a lot of great ‘reader finds’ and small design shops and artists send me some of their works and designs, so it is time to share!
Nikki Montoya is a jewelry designer that comes to us from Southern California with an eclectic collection of jewelry inspired by the past. Sustainable materials, salvaged rarities and vintage charms are brilliantly combined with a contemporary vision and technique. Each one of these unique and inspired handmade creations are one of a kind. I am a particular fan of the bangles (pictured) and “Sparrows”. Check out her website and find her jewelry sprinkled in a handful of Los Angeles area boutiques.
.jpg "Poj Facundo bamboo furniture")
Miami based Argentinian furniture designer Facundo Poj has a scattering educational and experience background ranging from a master builder and Architecture school to a degree in Urban Affairs and Environmental Problems. His works consist of handcrafted junkyard objects with historic value. He is interested in subjects which contain a soul and have a lasting quality to them. Researching new ways of using materials outside the large scale mainstream manufacturing; he employes materials like salvaged cardboard or engineered bamboo. I particularly enjoy his repurposed bathtub line of furniture including the bathtub chaise lounge.
Related Items:
Simply Wooden Rings – Sustainable Wood Jewelry
Junkyard Tables – Vintage Automobile Hood Tables
Metaform Studio Lighting – Green Lighting Design
Beach Trash Sculptures – Necklaces from Discarded Rubbish
Beach Trash to Ocean Animals – Plastic Bag Sculptures and Jewelry
Floral Necklace, 2008 - made from discarded plastic bags
These really captured my marine biologist heart when i saw them- sea creatures
Helle Jorgensen is the artist behind these wonderful designs. Taking hints from nature and the underwater world, its almost as if she crochets the memory of the plastic, weary from their travels across the ocean. Im amazed at the variety of colors and types of plastics she finds on the beaches- although i shouldn’t be. Anyone who has participated in any kind of coastal cleanup would know the copious amount of trash that wash up on our beaches everyday.
For those not of the recycled/repurposed plastic bag persuasion, she also creates unique jewelry and fashionable items out of reclaimed wool (blankets, scraps, etc.). These fabulous works of art are available for sale, although most pictured on this feature have already been sold.
Barnacles Garden and Gorgonia - Made from discarded plastic bags
Simply Wood Rings – Eco-Concious Jewelry
Simply Wood Rings are some of the most unique and beautifully designed jewelry I have ever come across. With the help of a two apprentices and one office worker, Gustav Reyes employs a relatively cutting-edge method of wood-working to create durable, one-of-a-kind rings. Using bent lamination, a technique used in furniture construction, Gustav cuts thin strips of wood that are then soaked and wrapped rather than carved against the grain. This creates a very durable ring that maintains the structural integrity of the wood and its grain. The ring is then molded, carved, and embellished and finally covered with a lacquered finish. Created from a single piece of wood, these rings are not constructed by a lathe, nor do they have metal inserted to create stability. They can only be made by hand. The wood in the ring is manipulated only to the extent that it is capable of being manipulated; its integrity is never compromised.
<.p>
Each piece is crafted from repurposed materials. Salvaged lumber from other artists, wooden objects of personal significance from customers (such as baseball bats or musical instruments) are transformed into unique engagement rings, wedding bands or special gifts.
“I strive to create art with love and an understanding that this love is not a possession but a gift that must be shared. I try to give back to that love by making art not depleting the universe but reshaping one of its greatest gifts-trees. Through the use of wood all the energy, spirit and history of the tree is worked to bring out that beauty.
Art is a pure expression of a life lived without constraints.”
- Gustav Reyes
 |
  |
 |
Gustav handcrafts every ring to bring out the warmth and honesty of the wood, striving to maintain its original spirit. When you order one of their rings, you know you are getting something that comes only from environmentally and socially conscious sources, something that has been uniquely crafted by hand to bring out the true beauty of each piece of wood.
Junkyard Tables
As soon as i saw one of these tables, i was in love. They have everything. Reused materials, beautiful design and textures, modern style, and each one is unique. It isn’t rocket science, but it takes skill and craftsmanship. Creating elegant metal tables out of salvaged vintage American automobile hoods is a great idea, and Joel Hester does it with class. With naturally worn patterns formed from oxidation, rust and vivid colors of paint, each piece has its own look and feel.
Each table is finished off with quality materials for the legs and feet, and given a new purpose in your living room. Starting at $850, they offer a reasonable price point for such a one-of-a-kind well made long lasting item. Also available for purchase are bed frames, desks and other metal framed furniture pieces.
