art beat

The Accidental Artist

Upcycling Discarded Items Into Treasures

STORY BY CARLA EDSTROM

The trend of upcycling what is used and old and making something new out of it is still going strong today. Thrifting and reusing items that have long outlived their original usefulness keeps our history alive and landfills smaller. No matter what way you look at it, thrifting, recycling, and repurposing items are just good for the earth.

Jewelry artist Janie Hutchinson uses found and discarded objects to create unique jewelry pieces. Her work may be made mainly of discarded items, but they sure don’t look like it. She has a natural ability to bring out the beauty in all her jewelry pieces. “My grandmother inspired my metal line of earrings,” said Hutchinson. “I found an old breadbox at her house after she passed away. It was worn and scratched. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. She was very thrifty and would’ve been impressed at how many earrings I’ve made out of that old breadbox.”

Originally from a small town in North Carolina called Grays Chapel, Hutchinson has been working and living in Wilmington since her college days at UNCW. “I have a BS in Finance which is about as opposite of artistic as you can get. My whole career has been based in finance of some sort. My mom is creative and my grandmother was creative. I would say I’m an accidental artist. My husband is creative and inspired my creativity.”

With no formal training as an artist, Hutchinson’s natural eye for design and style is evident in her guitar string lariats and recycled metal earrings. I first saw her jewelry on the 4th of July on Oak Island at the art festival and had to have one of her guitar string lariat necklaces. It’s so unique and stylish. People are constantly commenting about it. “I would see beautiful pieces of jewelry and think I could make that,” she said. “The first thing I made was a leather and guitar string bracelet. That turned into all things made from recycled guitar strings from lariat necklaces to earrings. The lariat is probably my best selling piece. I try to keep evolving and using different mediums. I’m loving the metals right now,” said Hutchinson.

It’s refreshing to see an artist taking discarded objects and reusing them. It makes the pieces so unique. Since she has taken found objects and repurposed them you are not going to find anything like it. What you get is a unique piece of art that also gives you a good feeling since you know it was saved from a landfill. “I love finding old treasures,” said Hutchinson. Something no one wants anymore or seems worn out and bringing it back to life in a different way. I try to see the character in the scratches and scrapes of old metal serving trays, tin roofing, even pots and bowls. They just seem to turn into something when I start cutting them up,” she said. “I make things that I like. That’s how I guess I started. I made things that I wanted to wear and it turned out that other people liked them too.” Hutchinson said that the most difficult part of her jewelry design is making the same piece over and over again. “Almost all my pieces are truly one of a kind so they are difficult to replicate,” she said.

Right now, Hutchinson works a fulltime job in Wilmington and makes her beautiful designs in her spare time. “I’m trying to get prepared for upcoming shows, especially for Christmas. I’ll be at the Azalea Festival, and The Orange Street Art Festival and American Craft Walk in September,” she said.

You can follow her work and contact her through her Facebook page, @HeavyOceanDesigns, and heavy_ ocean_design on Instagram.