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My name is Joanna and this is my first post, after a long period of observation and procrastination. I love what you all have been posting, and I hope you will find this one interesting.
We bought these IKEA plastic bins to organize our obsessive recycling lifestyle here in Switzerland. Since all three were exactly the same and plain, we needed a way to distinguish one from the other, so I decided to give each bin a characteristic look. I could have just painted 'PAPER', 'BOTTLES & CANS', and 'PLASTIC BAGS', but in case we use the bins for other purposes in the future, I wanted to keep the theme generic. Hence the three different paintings.
I painted the sky background and the branch, then glued on the flowers which are actually the Japanese textile cutouts. We use this one for storing all our plastic bags.
This was a spontaneous inspiration from a trip to Provence. This one is for all types of paper.
This one is special because the painting shows all six cats that we had at one point in our house attic. One cold winter, the mother cat took a refuge in our attic, and soon after we discovered that she gave birth to five kittens! Now the mother and the three others (Pumpkin, Mustard, Dusty) have either passed away or gone missing in action. We currently have two friendly cats (Green eyes and Halloween), and an extra stray cat whom we call Totoro. This bin is used for all the bottles, cans, and aluminums.
6 comments:
joanna, thank you so much for joining us, i love your recycling bins. your paintings are so nicely done---the colors work well together, and they are whimsical. i especially like the one of the cats, the one falling off is so cute! i like the idea that you kept them generic so that they can be used for anything too. and they look so much better than the trashcan we have set aside for recycling purposes!
as you may have noticed, we have all dropped off with documenting our creative efforts, i will really try to make an effort to start again. we had talked a while back about doing a photowhispers/elevator project, would yall be up for that?
What a great idea to personalize Ikea goodies. With everyone buying from Ikea these days, it's hard to be original. What kind of paint did you use? I love all of the designs, but the story behind the cat family makes that one special and yes, the one falling off is very cute. Thanks for sharing!
yay, it's great to see someone finally posting again! your paintings on the plastic boxes are wonderful, joanna. i especially like the glowing background of the cats painting, as if they are watching a beautiful sunset. i wish i could do something that creative with our bevy of plastic boxes. can you recommend a special paint for use with plastic boxes?
cindy, can you post more about the photowhispers/elevator project you have in mind? is it like the photos from thing-a-day?
Thanks everyone, for your generous comments!
For the type of paint, I used acrylic. I initially had bought a set of ceramic paints which was recommended at the store when I told them I was looking for something that will stick on plastic. But when I tried a dab of this ceramic paint, I found it too thin and solvent.
So I attempted my acrylic paints and it worked great! I even added a coat of varnish on top for the finishing touch, in case the paint comes off.
cool! it's always nice to see handmade touches on mass produced wares. Makes me want to do something with our ugly white recycling bin...
What a great idea! I love seeing something bulky and industrial turned into something beautiful and best of all you've got us posting again!
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