Misty Ray

As a child, I made toys from cutout images in the Montgomery Ward’s Christmas catalog, Elmer’s glue and cardboard. I didn’t know that the point of the catalog was to sell things. I was consumed by many pieces of colorful paper filled with things that were new to me.

I find most of my raw materials in thrift stores, at SCRAP and in nature. Every day, perfectly usable things are thrown away or donated to non-profits. But even in the donation process, many items, like the Palomino horse Barbie loved so much, now marred with a dirty matted mane and a scratched paint job, will end up in a landfill. The printed words of last year’s magazines, still holding the intoxicating scented pull tabs of marketing dollars, have become unimportant! These are the places that I find my inspiration. This adventure wakes the same imagination that built a paper toy collection beyond belief.

The beauty in fixing the broken & forgotten is what I enjoy. I hope you appreciate how these bits are transformed into something beautiful in a different way, in a way worth keeping & remembering!