Accidental Artist Finds Her Niche in Recycled Art

To High Ridge resident Morgan Noles, 20, a discarded DVD case or slab of concrete isn't trash, but a potential canvas. Oils and acrylics are fine to paint with, but leftover model or house paint is even better.

Noles's love for using unconventional materials to create art has led her work to become known as recycled art. She uses found objects like vinyl records, plastic bags, cassette tapes and sheets of slate or marble and either paints on them or molds them into practical sculptures like clocks and lamps. She also has been known to crochet with plastic bags and the tape from inside a cassette.

"I like accidental art," she said, "Something that you would do and not realize what you were actually doing until the end and you're like. 'Oh wow, that really turned out into something I was not expecting it to be.'"

Noles works with two artist friends, Brian Oldham and his girlfriend Jackie. Together, they put together a display of recycled art in the . The centerpiece of the display is a plasma television frame that Oldham pulled out of a dumpster, with a mirror fitted where the screen should be. The other main piece is what Noles called a "Dead Media Robot," which she made out of molded vinyl records, VHS and cassette tapes, CDs and 8-tracks.

The piece that started it all is a lamp made of molded records, created by Oldham with the others' input. With that project, he and Noles worked out a way of shaping the records using a complex system involving friends' ovens and a blowtorch. Since then, Noles has continued experimenting with the technique, creating everything from clocks to candy dishes, as well as more lamps.

Before beginning to work with a record, Noles said they rip the music off of it and save it digitally, so it won't be lost. They paint on the record covers, using a dripping and pouring technique that works well with the smooth surface. Even the canvas drop cloth was put to use, paint splatters and all—Jackie cut up parts of it to sew into bags, and the rest they stretched over frames to use as traditional canvases.

Using found materials means Noles doesn't have to spend much money on art supplies. Most of the records she uses are donated by family or friends, or purchased on the cheap from Goodwill. She finds frames on Craigslist or friends will donate them, and sometimes she comes across a slab or a plank of something to paint on.

"We don't spend hardly any money on art supplies. And art supplies are so expensive, so we're grateful for that," she said. 

For now, art is only a hobby for Noles. She makes her living running a cafe in Northwest Branch Library, just across the lobby from her display. She said she would love to make art a larger part of her life someday, but she has to get over the habit of giving her work away for free, first.

"I'm horrible about giving my art away. I don't even try to sell it," she said. "I think making money off of art would be fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. But I'm not sure how to go about it. And I got the materials for free, so something about that…someone else should enjoy it too, for free."

Working towards an associate of arts degree at Jefferson College now. Her art classes there have taught her a lot about technique that she didn't get when she was self-taught, but not much about art as a business. She said she thinks her next step is to try to get a spot in Art Space at Crestwood Mall for her, Oldham and Jackie to start selling their work. For now, though, she is happy to be doing something that she loves and enjoys.

"I've always said I wish I had something in my life that I was passionate about, and I finally found it," she said.

Anyone interested in learning more about the recycled art, or interested in buying a piece of it, can contact Noles and Oldham at arrrtjc@yahoo.com.