“Life After Discard,” My Wife Takes Rusty Metal Bits And Trash From The Desert And Makes Upcycled Happy Jewelry
My wife Lori and I have been camping in the Anza Borrego Desert State park for more than 20 years. There are a few areas in the park that, until recently, were private land. One of those places had an old homestead and ranger station from the 1950’s and 1960’s and, though the buildings are gone, there’s all kinds of interesting junk and trash that has been left there by people and the elements. We spend a few hours collecting things to upcycle and recycle into new jewelry. After all of her work is done, we then take them back out to the desert to take photos of them for our Etsy store.
Lori calls it “Life After Discard.” “When I sift through the sands of Anza Borrego for rotted metal I don’t see a broken zipper, I see the petals of a flower. I pick through rusted nails to find the heads that have fallen off over time and I make them into suns and moons. The hooks from old holiday ornaments become figures dancing among the stars. I find things that were last touched fifty years ago – aged by the desert sun and I make something delightful.”
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