cool art tucson

Eyeball Art: Eyeball Collage as Great Gift Idea

You no longer have to settle for the ho-hum family photos at exciting gatherings – you can instead engage in artsy projects to REALLY give guests a photo to appreciate – like this striking and colorful eyeball collage.

Featured are a single eyeball from each guest at our Michigan Christmas Eve gathering. You can create similar artistic memories using ear shots, shoe shots (one of my faves!) or nose shots if you don’t mind nose hair.

Make sure to put your camera settings on extreme close-up and also make sure to let your guests know what you’re doing unless you want a whap in the face.

I’d be glad to create a collage using any ho-hum photos you want to send my way. Email for rates based on project: ryngargulinski@hotmail.com.

You might also like the cool custom tabloid covers that served as gifts for my parents and brother and sis-in-law.

Make a Difference Day Oct. 22: More funky pockets of charm coming to Tucson along Toole Avenue

Funky pockets of charm are a big part of what makes Tucson fun. Fourth Avenue’s welded trash cans. Murals and metal art peppered around downtown. A revamping of Toole Avenue, complete with new trees, new plants and gads of new art.

The sprucing-up festivities, officially known as the Toole Avenue Streetcape Project, is part of Make a Difference Day, scheduled from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Activities are geared toward refurbishing the yet-to-be-finished Toole Avenue Artwalk with greenery and all other hues in a planting and art fest.

Oodles of artists, community volunteers, art and civic organizations and businesses will be on location planting trees, installing dozens of other plants, finishing off existing murals and adding new artwork to the scene. Performances, art activities and other festivities will be going on along Toole and throughout the entire Tucson Historic Warehouse Arts District, including three, one-day exclusive exhibits.

One Tucsonan’s junk is another’s art project: See for yourself at Bookmans GreenFest 2011 on Sat. April 2

Barbara Mandrell would be proud to know her eyeball ended on the edge of a dragon collage. Jack Benny would be equally tickled to see his whole head made it onto the dragon’s face. And Harry Belafonte would probably belt out a calypso tune or two if he spotted his wide-open maw transformed into the mewling face of a scattered-looking cat.

Such notable musicians, authors, actors, game creators and the guy who put together the burlesque “Music to Strip By” album would surely be honored to know that their faces, works and hard-earned projects did not go the way of the Dumpster. They instead joined hundreds of other books, magazines, albums, CDs, DVDs and random recyclables that were transformed into glorious art projects for Bookmans GreenFest 2011.

The fruits of all this artistic labor goes on display from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 2 at the University of Arizona Co-op Extension, 4210 N. Campbell Ave. Stroll the outdoor gallery to witness what happens when dozens of local artists get their hands on a bunch of junk.

GreenFest rules dictate artists must create projects with approved recycled materials picked up from Bookmans, with a small percentage allowed for glue, paint and other construction materials.

Bookmans’ backroom recycling bins were full of delightful scads of surprises. We’re not sure how or why the bloody, decapitated figurine heads got in there, but they do make a great addition near the dragon’s pointy teeth. I was in heaven.

cool art tucson

Footer

Stay in the loop