2025 exhibition

oday’s featured artist from First Annual Exhibit by REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE is Teresa Stoller.

After two rewarding careers, Teresa found her true passion, over the past several years, as a quilt artist, educator, and pattern designer.
Helping others find and explore their colorful inner quilt artist is rewarding and brings her so much joy; and the little Florida beach, where she enjoys life with her husband, a fellow quilter, provides endless inspiration for her bright, bold, beachy designs.

Seashell Grid
2023
Cotton fabric scraps and netting
16” x 20”

Seaside Heartstrings
2023
Cotton fabric scraps
18” x 18”

Funshine
2024
Fabric scraps and netting
18” x 18”

Teresa creates using repurposed fabric scraps, she gives new life to forgotten textiles, celebrating both sustainability and creativity, blending colors and textures in unexpected ways. Her work embraces curved piecing, freeform collage, playful fabric manipulation and quilting to evoke the movement of waves, the warmth of sunshine, and the joy and love of life at the shore.

Her work is a celebration of vibrant colors, repurposed treasures, and the endless inspiration of the coastal life community.

Teresa’s bright and colorful pieces bring joy to this exhibit!

Go visit Teresa at http://www.beachdreamsquilting.com and @beachdreams_quilting

Today's featured artist from First Annual Exhibit by REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE is Ellen November.

Drawing on the graphic nature of maps, Ellen's fiber art is cartographic in nature. Art quilts allow her to combine her skills in illustration, photography, graphic design and quilting.

Her projects include a series of work based on the Rand McNally Thomas Guide Book of maps. Each piece in the series represents a coastal area of LA County. Her work is part of a permanent installation at Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Southern California, the Western Museum of Flight, The Monday Club of San Luis Obispo and Crafted at Port of LA.

She received a BFA in Illustration from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena CA.

Ellen now resides in San Luis Obispo, CA, on the Central Coast.

Words Matter

2021

Single-use plastic 

12’ x 13’ x .25"

Black Lives Matter

2021

Single-use plastic

11” x 14” x .25”

Stop Hate

2021

Single-use plastic

12” x 12” x .25” 

Once Ellen started saving all the single use plastic that came into her house, she quickly built up quite a collection. And why not use this non-recyclable material in her artwork? And why not create meaningful words with the plastic? Not only is the single-use plastic 'free' material, but it means that this plastic will not end up in a landfill.

Ellen's much needed statements are a bold expression of activism within this exhibit!

Go visit Ellen at http://ellennovember.com and @ellennovemberfiberart

Come see the exhibit in person or via recording!

Gallery will be open Saturday, March 29th from 12 to 4pm, or by appointment.

Cathy is a self-taught artist based in Ontario, Canada. For the past 35 years, she balanced life as a small business owner, mother, and volunteer. Her artistic family influenced her deep passion for creating art. In addition to creative practice, Cathy volunteers as a coordinator for a community quilt festival, where she has the privilege of connecting with fellow quilters and sharing the joy of textile arts with others.

The Burning Bush 2025 Single-use plastics 9.5” x 14”

How Do I Love Thee 2025 Single-use plastic 15” x 12”

Cathy has been an art quilter for over 10 years, working primarily in the solitude of her basement studio. She found when gathering second-hand fabric for her projects she could create her own designs through breakdown printing, cyanotype printing, and dyeing.

Cathy joined the Repurposer Collective in 2023 where she discovered an even deeper connection to her art. Cathy’s work revolves around the joy of transformation—taking discarded materials and breathing new life into them. Using single-use plastics as well as second-hand fabrics is not only a way to reduce waste but it allows her to reflect on the inherent beauty of the materials we easily discard every day. There is great satisfaction in creating something meaningful from what was once considered forgotten or obsolete.

Cathy’s tender depictions of nature and our planet are a joy to see!

Go visit Cathy at @old_doxie

And come see the exhibit in person or via recording! Gallery will be open Saturday, March 29th from 12 to 4pm, or by appointment. Link in bio. 🌍

Ana is a portrait photographer who loves to create images that tell a story. Using plastic and digital manipulation, she presents a photograph of her daughter in a dress made of repurposed plastic, symbolizing the pervasive nature of plastic and the urgent need for collective action. Her art aims to inspire reflection on how creativity can help draw attention to a more sustainable future.

Forever and One Day # 2 2023 Photograph 20” x 30”

“Community” explores our connection to each other and the Earth. This portrait transforms plastic waste into meaning, urging awareness, responsibility, and action for a compassionate, sustainable future.

Forever and One Day # 3 - Clemency 2025 Photograph 16” x 20”

This portrait of Ana’s mother, draped in recycled plastic, explores clemency—compassion for each other and the Earth. Inspired by Romans 8:22, it urges renewal, balance, and shared responsibility through transformed waste.

Ana’s artistry with costumes from repurposed plastic and photography are otherwordly!

Go visit Ana @anaszilagyi

And come see the exhibit in person or via recording! Gallery is open today from 12 to 4pm. Link in bio. 🌍

Debbie Kauffman is an award-winning longarm quilter and fiber artist from Minot, North Dakota. She tells her stories through drawing and sculpting with thread, while pushing the boundaries of what a longarm quilting machine is supposed to do. Her intricately crafted pieces focus on her love of nature, a commitment to using sustainable practices, and to reimagining quilting as art.

You Are What You Eat 2025 Mixed/single-use plastic 11” x 8” x 1.5”

Statement for You Are What You Eat

Bees are a critically important group of pollinators that help to grow our food. Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change are factors that are contributing to their decline. Perhaps it’s time to be a good neighbor and make changes to support them, like replacing lawns, preserving land, reducing pesticide use, and building new habitats.

Mother Nature’s Coat 2025 Mixed/single-use plastic 6’ x 28” x 9’

Statement for Mother Nature’s Coat

A recent collaboration in Debbie’s community led to this creation: a challenge to bring art to life! North Dakota printmaker Eric Johnson’s Tree #29 was the inspiration for a coat for Mother Nature. The sunhat, coordinating necklace, and black coat are stitched with single-use plastics, reminding us how we are covering the earth in plastic. While she still looks marvelous, now, how long until the plastic is shredded, torn and flaking? When will we change our ways and take care of her?

Debbie’s attention to detail in her art is astounding!

Go visit Debbie at @drawingwithneedles

And come see the exhibit in person or via recording! Link in bio. 🌍

Today's featured artist from First Annual Exhibit by REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE is Neha Luhar-Trice.

Neha is a freelance artist living in Jacksonville, FL. While her favored medium was once photography, she now primarily works with paper collage, and is currently experimenting with single-use plastics in her artwork.

Neha’s work has been selected for juried exhibitions nationwide, including shows in San Francisco, CA, Astoria, OR, and multiple appearances in the prestigious Krappy Kamera Exhibition at New York City’s Soho Photo Gallery.

Stuck Inside

2024

Mixed media

8" x 12.5" x .5"

Wrapped Memories

2025

Mixed media

15" x 19" x 4"

Every Drop Counts

2023

Mixed media

15.75" x 20"

Like many of us, over the years Neha found her home filled with things she no longer needed. She didn’t want to contribute to “disposable” culture by simply throwing these things away, but what was she to do? Now Neha refashions her “unwanteds”—and items gifted to her by friends and family—into recycled, planet-friendly creations. She has an affinity for bright colors, and she hopes her works make you smile!

Through close examination and an intuitive play with materials found in daily life—like food packaging, junk mail and chip bags—Neha's ideas take form. Her mission is to respect our planet by giving life to discarded materials, turning them into art for everyday living.

Neha's artworks are delicately detailed and are a joy for the eye!

Go visit Neha at http://nehaluharart.com and @nehaluharart

And come see the exhibit in person or via zoom!

Today's featured artist from First Annual Exhibit by REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE is Sharon Williams.

Sharon is an eco artist from Sterling, Virginia. She has been making art since 2019. She has a minor in art from Virginia Tech and is mostly self taught from YouTube. Her mother was a painter and seamstress so Sharon took after her.

Sharon attempts to make art as eco-friendly as possible. The art upcycles ordinary materials to reveal the line between nature and manufactured materials. Sharon is trying to fully transform paper and other items to remind us about our connection to our fragile planet.

Altered Ledger Book

2024

13”x15”x5” (open) 13”x9”x8” (closed)

Ledger book, natural non-toxic gesso, oil pastels, chalk, paint markers, acrylic paint

Flower

2025

11”x13”x1.5”

Cardboard, magazine paper, ribbons, yarn, thread, tacks, plastic cord

Sharon's two pieces are a Transformed Flower and an Altered Ledger Book. These are 100 percent upcycled, made from cardboard, magazine paper, ribbons, yarn, thread, tacks, plastic cord, a ledger book and natural non-toxic gesso, oil pastels, chalk, paint markers and acrylic paint.

Sharon's artworks are exquisitely textured and are not to be missed!

Go visit Sharon at @williamssharoneco

And come see the exhibit in person or via zoom!

Link in bio.

Today's featured artist from First Annual Exhibit by REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE is Kristin La Flamme.

Kristin is an artist who loves to sew. Her primary genre is art quilting, but she happily explores other media when the message and the muse call for it. Kristin’s work has been shown internationally in groups, and the rare solo show.

Petrochemical Snowfall

2025

Single-use plastic and home decor items

36" x 130" x 36"

Snowflakes seem fragile and small, but their individual impact is multiplied when snowflakes fall together. Similarly, it may seem that an individual person can't make a difference, but when viewed as part of a broader initiative, we can make an impact together to affect positive change.

Petrochemical Snowfall is both a statement on the ubiquity of plastic in our lives, and the beauty we can create when we multiply our efforts.

The snowballs are created from the plastic Kristin saved from about 6 months worth of protective wrapping on the bolts of fabric she receives at the sewing center where she works; the yarn is from her stash; and the hanging apparatus is from a creative re-use store—all resources from Kristin's community, coming together to create a perfect storm.

Kristin's amazing plastic snowstorm is a statement piece of this exhibit.

Go visit Kristin at @kristinlaflamme

And come see the exhibit in person or via zoom!

Today's featured artist from First Annual Exhibit by REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE is Michelle Sirois Silver.

Deeply rooted in the tradition of hand hooked rugs, Michelle’s work features intricate layers that create rich visual and tactile experiences. In June 2021, she exhibited her work at the Biennale Internationale DuLin du Portneuf in Deschambault, Quebec. Her works have been displayed in various Craft Council of British Columbia exhibitions, including the notable 2010 Cultural Olympiad. Michelle is a two-time recipient of the Surface Design Association Award for Excellence. She lives in Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Balance 1, 2, 3 2025 Sans Soucie recycled hosiery waste and salvaged bed springs 9” x 7.5” x 15.5”

Michelle is fascinated by the unexpected relationships that happen when two or three objects are brought together. When she looks at this grouping, she sees an unfolding story that explores the keenly felt balance between tenderness and strength. As Michelle makes the work, the finished outcome remains a mystery. It’s not until she folds, stitches, and fills the 2D hand-hooked surfaces, that the sculptures’ true personas reveal themselves. For these works, she sourced waste hosiery from a local fashion designer in Vancouver. The hosiery is hand hooked into a linen backing. The 3D forms are mounted on salvaged bed springs. When Michelle works with repurposed materials their provenance adds unknowable layers to the story. She works with a technique that is slow and repetitive. The finished works may be categorized as contemporary art, however the method of utilizing repurposed materials is as old as time.

Michelle's tender threesome in this exhibit are a delight. Go visit Michelle at http://michellesirois-silver.com and @msiroissilver And come see the exhibit in person or via zoom!

Today’s featured artist from First Annual Exhibit by REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE is Carol Paik.

Carol is a mixed-media artist based in New York, splitting her time between New York City and Pound Ridge. Carol’s artwork has been shown in various venues in New York City; Westchester, NY; Connecticut; and Paris, France. Most recently her work was shown in “No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor,” at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, NY. Widening Gyre 2021 Repurposed fabric 70” x 115” dotdotdot 2024 Repurposed fabric and plastic bags 76” x 38” Air Shapes 2024 Repurposed fabric and coat hangers 36” x 72” Carol considers herself a mixed-media artist, focused on repurposing discarded materials and the detritus of our everyday lives in her work. She most enjoys taking something that is overlooked, and looking at it closely. Or, taking something too frequently seen, and looking at it slightly differently. She’s interested in the emotions that we bring to the things we discard: nostalgia, guilt, desire, and loss. Her goal is to give these objects—and, by extension, ourselves—new possibilities.

Carol’s three stitched pieces in this exhibit show the diversity of her art practice. Go visit Carol at http://www.carolpaik.com and @capaik670 And come see the exhibit in person or via zoom!

Today's featured artist from First Annual Exhibit by REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE is Christine Staver.

Chris enjoyed a long career teaching physics, meteorology, and astronomy. Her quilts have been exhibited extensively, including at: Images (2018, 2019, 2022); Quilts=Art=Quilts,Schweinfurth Art Center (2018,2019); Bellefonte Art Museum (2019) (14 art quilts were exhibited); Art Alliance’s 'Artists Rake a Stand' (2019); APQS show, Michigan (2019); and Recycle shows at Art Alliance (Won honorable mention in 2021, popular vote in 2023). She has taught several classes on making art quilts.

Cold Dark Orb

2024

Husband’s old jeans, used dryer sheets

18” x 18”

Dad Built Pittsburgh

2023

Dad’s drafting vellum

10” x 10”

Chris has been doing art in one form or another since she was a child. She has sketched, painted, printed, made baskets, done metal punch, and worked with stained glass.

Her main love is creating quilts of buildings. Chris grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has a lifelong fascination with all kinds of buildings from historic to modern to industrial. Her architectural quilts include several cityscapes such as Pittsburgh in the snow, or Amsterdam canal houses at night. Her industrial quilts include fracking rigs, wind turbines, toxic barrels, and oil refineries.

She is drawn to these scenes because of her concern about the environment and climate change. This is also why she has moved into making quilts with recycled materials such as plastic bags and used dryer sheets.

Chris's two stitches pieces in this exhibit are exquisite. Go visit Chris on her blog https://chrissquiltinguniverse.blogspot.com/

The first featured artist from First Annual Exhibit by REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE is Joani Share.

Joani has been trained in fiber arts, printmaking and mixed media; and is intrigued by color, shape, and texture.

As a practicing artist and art teacher for decades, she now has moved away from traditional art practices and has begun using single use plastic and other recycled materials as her main medium.

Echoes of the Wind

2025

Recycled plastic and thread

56” x 16” x 30”

Reading that black plastic cooking utensils were considered a threat to human health, Joani decided that instead of throwing them away, she'd use them to create art. She asked her friends to give her their discards in addition to the various plastic bags they were already collecting.

Using selections from her single use plastic she began constructing the birds—cutting plastic feathers and sewing the wings together on the sewing machine. Joani used the black utensils as the body and created this flock with completely recycled and discarded plastic.

Joani's intent in creating this flock of birds is to show the importance of community, kinship, and working together. Traveling as units through the skies, birds fly together and support each other, they are a perfect example of harmony for the good of all. We all need community to uplift, support and help each other for survival.

Isn't this work amazing? Go visit Joani on her website https://joanishare.com/