“FIORI DELLA STRADA” (=flowers from the road) is my label, I am trying to reduce trash and waste by recycling “objets trouvez.”
Base of operations: Miami-Dade, Kendall area, near Baptist Med. Ctr.
How to contact this artist: pptarjan@aol.com
Website art-from-trash.com
Background: I am an 83-year “old” retired engineering professor. I keep busy by making toys and crafts from scraps and stuff I find while taking long walks in town. Most of my “work” is made from found hubcap, recycled golf balls, bottle caps and vinyl sprinkler pipes. I have given away hundreds over the years to friends and schools around the USA and overseas. I am also a volunteer docent at the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami.
Tour: There was a silent auction to benefit the Lowe. I donated five pieces and all were sold. One for almost three times the starting price.
A friend has a display of my “fiori” in front of her house. During a yard sale, a lady got excited about the fiori and wanted them to be offered for sale at a bookstore. We delivered 20 items, but about a week later they wanted them removed as kids were knocking them over. They sold three, most of the rest were damaged by the time we took them back,
Career: Oh, NO! I am a hobbyist and do not depend on sales. I used to make toys for our kids and their friends when they were little and now for our grandkids. Mostly using wood. When I started running around 40, I brought home hubcaps and railroad scraps. My methodology developed over two decades.
Inspiration: To cheer up people. Whatever catches my eyes along the road, I take home, clean and try to make it into something useful, entertaining or decorative.
Outreach: Word of mouth. Once I gave about 20 fiori for a fundraiser for Alex’s Place, a clinic for treating children for cancer and sickle cell anemia. A few were left over unsold and they asked to make a display for their garden. Prof. Billie Lynne had a class of student-none art majors-to work on “socially relevant” projects. She taught them to work with tools and they produced a display with 33 of my flowers.
Medium: Found objects, glue, screws, paint, etc. The photos show a variety of objects I have made and mostly given away,
Why here tho? I’ve been living here for 52 years. We have grown roots. I like to be able to walk outdoors all year round, hate the humidity and the traffic, but love our friends. We stay,,,
Favorites: Alexander Calder, Joan Miro, Richard Serra, Margit Kovacs (Hungarian ceramist), da Vinci,
Caravaggio, Saul Steinberg, Vermeer, etc.. They followed their own ideas, rather than imitating the success of others.
“Maestro Calder, what inspired you to make mobiles and your incredible Circus video?”
Suggestions: Learn a trade or a profession to support yourself. Don’t think you are going to be a celebrity, but enjoy the engagement with your passion.
Life: Great idea! Hope it pans out for everyone!
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