Art Jars #1

Drowning Heart

A few weeks ago I watched the street art biography Exit Through The Gift Shop, featuring the artistic vandal, Banksy.  Banksy is an anonymous British graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter.  The dark humor of his artistic work has been featured on streets, buildings and bridges throughout the world.

I was captivated by the amazing art created for all to see in the public and had an instant desire to get off the couch and vandalize a building.  I did not, of course.  But I got to thinking of other ways that I could express myself through street art.  I thought of creating small pieces of art and leaving them out in various places.  Then we had a horrible rainstorm and I pictured that mini art turning to mush.  I began to think of other options.  Mod Podge, lamination, jars…..jars!

It seemed like a great idea with the exception of the fact that I felt like I would be littering.  I have spent years lecturing people about being eco-responsible, the last thing I want to be is a hypocrite.

The purpose of putting these jars out in the wild is for people to find them.  So after contemplating my littering issue over the course of the last couple weeks I decided to go ahead with it, promising myself that I would only leave them in conspicuous areas.  That way I wouldn’t feel like a total ass for ditching glass jars where they would never be found.

I created the first art jar using magazine scraps, a red heart with a backdrop of the ocean.  I waited for the glue to dry before I sealed the mini masterpiece tight in the jar.  I was going to head down to the beach, given the theme of the jar, but decided to go  to one of the canals instead.  I left the Art Jar in a visible area on the popular canal walk in Venice, captured its last photo and walked away with a grin on my face and a slight guilt for leaving a glass jar outside.

Inside with the mini art I left a small piece of paper with information for the finder of the Art Jar.  The only thing better than leaving it for someone to find would be for me to know who found it and when.  You all know how nosy I am, I need to know the end result!  It was pretty fun leaving the Art Jar out in the wild.  I walked home and thought of all the states I can leave them in on my way to Tennessee and Minnesota.  This is going to be great, stay tuned for the next Art Jar adventure!