From the start of my artmaking journey, I have been on a very tight budget, or had no money at all! I used items already at my fingertips from years of collecting and making. Simultaneously, I have long sourced recycled items that may have gone to the trash. Economical supplies that are made for children or sourced from the thrift store round out my collection. Cardboard, paper, recycled leather, and recycled cloth (such as bedsheets and clothes) are my most called upon foundations. Color pencils, acrylic paints, and pen are what I layer on top of the foundation to build up the image and color.

At present, I have enough supplies to last me for another few years, save for items that inherently run out or wear down like paints and color pencils. Having to creatively solve problems without immediately purchasing new supplies specifically made for the job has been an immense learning curve. Repurposing items on hand to complete a task is helping me grow and expand my thinking.

There are sustainable benefits to using recycled supplies like turning old clothes and bedsheets into quilts. My own old clothing could have otherwise been donated to a thrift store and, likewise, I have purchased thrift store items for the purpose of quilting. As we now know, thrift stores often have more product than they can sell resulting in thousands of pounds of clothing being dumped in American landfills or dumped on surface land in countries overseas. Making something that spares garments from the landfill for at least my lifetime is a worthwhile effort.

Taking painter’s drop cloth, muslin, and thrift store bedsheets to make curtains for my studio is one level of sustainability, but using fragments of these materials to quilt together is making use of scraps and remnants. At what point does saving scraps and trash go from gathering sustainable supplies to hoarding? It is hoarding! I don’t believe an artist could be an artist without some level of hoarding. But, I’m hoping a purpose, a goal, and a plan with regards to safety turns stashes and stacks of junk into a curated collection.

There are a few retail stores and small businesses dedicated to reselling used art and craft supplies which is an extension of art and supply swaps artists typically organize among themselves. Thistle Creative Reuse in Denton, TX carries on the essence of Scraps Denton which closed during the pandemic quarantine of 2020. I love their selection of sewing patterns and used books, so I hope to be more involved in donating my own supplies if my piles of junk get too high!

Have a Pleasant Day!
-Rae