JulieAnne Hage began to haunt the Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Yellowhead Trail when she and husband Cam were renovating their kitchen and bathrooms. Over the course of several months, she made it a habit to stop in at the store to look for bargains and she found everything from cabinet hinges to a bathroom vanity. The hinges were the best deal, because she paid just $2 each for them in the ReStore, compared to $25 each in regular retail outlets.
So when she saw the advertisement for the Habitat for Humanity ReStore Silent Art Auction, Oct. 21 to 25, she decided it was time to give back.
Hage’s three pieces of art: a recovered teak chair, a mosaic-tile covered light and a sculptural end table were all made from items from the Re-Store.
Items are donated to the Re-Store by local builders, contractors and individuals. Those materials, which might be anything from plumbing fixtures to hardware to upcycled furniture are then sold at discount prices.
“In general, 60 per cent of what we sell is brand new and it is sold at 40-80 per cent of the retail cost,” said Habitat’s Tasha Labelle, who helped organize the silent auction.
Labelle expects artworks will be donated by some 15 area artists, with Hage, a potter and raku artist, being the only contributor from St. Albert. All proceeds go towards supporting Habitat for Humanity.
“Each artist was given a $100 credit in the Re-Store to use in their projects. They were asked to refinish or create something new, using no extra art supplies,” Labelle said.
Hage’s goal was to create art that would fulfil the mandate of restore, repurpose and refurbish.
For her restore project she chose to reupholster a teak chair. She refinished the teak and covered the seat and back with blue denim.
“The arms were covered in layers of wax and oil so I took stripped that off. I covered the cushion and then I hand painted it,” Hage said.
Transforming a maple newel post into a piece of sculpture that was both artistic and useable as an end table, served as her repurpose project.
“I always liked the Cubist style. So I cut the newel post into sections, hand stained it and stacked the pieces in the Cubist fashion,” she said.
Finally she refurbished a pair of glass and brass swag lamps by attaching glass and stone mosaic tiles. The light shines through the mosaic tiles, as if they were made of stained glass.
“I like to live waste free as much as possible so the opportunity to recycle appealed to me. I found myself on those sleepless nights sometimes thinking, “what can I do with this?” When you’re creative, you keep finding new ways to make stuff,” she said.
For more information visit www.hfh.org/restore/art-humanity or visit the art auction Oct. 21 to 26 at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store at 8210 Yellowhead Trail.
