ABOVE: John Taylor-Lehman works on laying caps in his garage studio for a portrait of Frieda Kahlo.
Beauty in Beer Caps Zanesville artist creates art from recycled materials STORY AND PHOTO BY MOLLY ZUNSKI // ADDITIONAL PHOTOS PROVIDED
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itting inside Zanesville’s Weasel Boy Brewing Company, artist John Taylor-Lehman talks about his passion for artwork, which, at a distance, some confuse for paintings. Upon closer inspection, spectators come to realize that these “paintings” are not paintings at all, but carefully constructed portraits and unique designs intricately detailed with old beer caps. The process of flattening, cutting and formatting these beer caps has been a regular practice for TaylorLehman for the past six years. With no formal art training beyond middle school, this local artist is selftaught and working with the ideas of reusing and recycling in mind. “I took a college trip to Mexico for six weeks in ’78 or ’79,” Taylor-Lehman says. “One thing that really stuck out in my mind was a guy in the jungle taking flattened beer caps and putting a nail through
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them, and that’s what he used to secure down his tarp paper on his roof.” Inspired by this resourcefulness and artistry, Taylor-Lehman adopted the motto “use what you’ve got” to guide his work. To collect materials, the artist says he has never had to purchase beer with the sole intent of using the caps. In the early days of his work, local bars and breweries donated their used caps. As Taylor-Lehman’s work has picked up success and recognition, he has had no trouble collecting an ample amount of materials for any type of project he may want to start. “Everybody saves [caps] for me. Bags of them will show up at the rec center, or they show up on my porch, or they show up at [Weasel Boy Brewing Company] sometimes,” Taylor-Lehman says. “I get them from all over the place. We had a cousin come in from France last summer who brought me a big
