There are numerous ways people choose to earn a living, from working in an office to driving a cab. From my perspective, I’ve always admired those that are able to make ends meet by producing beautiful works of art for others to enjoy, whilst putting food on their own table at the same time.
One such individual is Barbara Franc. This post is particularly relevant because not only does Barbara produce stunning 3 dimensional pieces of art, she frequently uses discarded waste materials as the prime source for her work.
We contacted Barbara to ask her permission to write this blog post, as there are many fabulous pictures on her website that we wanted to use in this section of our site to showcase her expertise. She kindly agreed, so we’ve added a gallery at the bottom of this page showing the scope of her amazing talent.
I originally came across Barbara’s work through seeing a short article about her in the Daily Mail where she is quoted as saying:
‘I make things because I can’t imagine not doing that, and it is so worthwhile when a piece makes someone smile. I find a lot of my materials by keeping my eyes open when out walking the dog, I’ll always have a quick look in any skip. A lot of pieces are just lying on the ground, jumble sales and charity shops are also good, and a lot of friends save things for me.”
At Skip Hire Info, we always love stories about people who can make things by recyling items that others choose to discard. Barbara is renowned for using a broad range of items including tin cans, sweet wrappers, costume jewellery, cutlery and clock parts. She is also fond of working with fabric as you can see below in this beautiful piece based on her own long legged lurcher and made with pieces of fabric from an old tapestry given to her by her Grandmother.
She says on her website:
“I have always been fascinated by the shapes and sculptural forms of animals, they present a never-ending source of inspiration to me. I try to capture a feeling of their movement and presence in my sculpture. For this I use wire and other materials in a way that suggests drawing in three dimensions. This allows me greater freedom to add changes whenever I want during the construction to keep the feeling fluid and to reflect the diversity of movement and form. I increasingly use recycled and discarded materials as I enjoy the challenge of transforming something with a past history into something new and exciting”.
Barbara frequently showcases her work at exhibitions and in art galleries so if you’re interested in viewing or buying a piece, either have a look at the ‘News’ page on her website or contact her directly. If you’d like something unique that’s specifically made for you, she also produces commissioned pieces as well.
As one reader posted it in the comments section of the newspaper article: “Beautiful. Barbara Franc beats the heck out of Damien Hurst”. :- We tend to agree.
If you’d like to see more of her work or would like to contact the artist directly, please visit Barbara Franc’s website.
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