About this piece:
This art piece was almost not for sale.  While I’ve made dozens of art pieces, this one is hard to let go.  But I think someone else out there might enjoy and need this piece and what it represents more than I do.  I hope you enjoy!

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Component Highlights:

Measuring Spoon: I purchased a set of old measuring spoons from an estate sale in Dallas in the summer of 2019.  It was one of the few items left at the estate sale, but it was perfect for the type of work I do.

S-hook: Found object on the streets of Dallas, TX.

Photo: Part of a grab bag collection I picked up at Curiosities in Dallas, TX.  The original photo was too large so I made it smaller and cropped it to work with the measuring spoon.  My impression of the women in the photo is that they epitomize resilience.  The photo is the reason I chose to stamp the word across the art piece.

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Many moons ago I had a job making lemonade in an industrial side of town.  One year my coworkers and I decided to take walks around the neighborhood during our lunch break.  It was physically healthy to get exercise but also nice to have some fresh air to clear our minds.  It was during our walks that we quickly noticed a surprising number of nails, screws and bolts on the streets.

We started carrying a Ziplock bag to collect all the metal rubbish we found.  Once complete I’d weigh the bags to compare that load to previous days.  This was a never-ending lunch break task but we were happy to remove the items and minimize our risk of getting a flat tire.   In the prime of this endeavor, I even had t-shirts made with an official “Litter Patrol” logo that my buddy made.  We expanded to hauling a wagon to carry larger trash and upgraded to a pole with magnets on the end to avoid bending over.  We were the real deal!

My grand vision was to eventually make a sculpture out of the metal objects.  I took the metal objects home (what a heavy load!) and cleaned them.  But then reality set in.  Why and how?  I concluded I had lost my marbles.  I threw the items away.  This was silly.

Just recently I was rummaging through my garage and came upon a bucket of the metal junk I had apparently forgotten to discard.  With the launch of Empirical Whimsy, you can imagine my excitement.  Rediscovered objects!

The s-hook used in this piece is one of the objects removed from the streets of Dallas.  If you want a visual it’s the Walnut Hill / I-35 area of town, near liquor stores and other establishments.

I am absolutely thrilled to have turned pieces of junk into lemonade.

You can purchase the piece from my Etsy shop, Empirical Whimsy.  Be sure to check out my other unique art pieces while there.