Hobbies, Hazards and Downsizing Tales

I love going to hazardous waste recycling. At least the three times I’ve been there have been positive experiences. The guys that work there are so happy to see people not dumping paints, thinners, spray cans, cleaners and other toxic chemicals in places where they don’t belong that they are like rays of sunshine when you pull into one of their drive-up, drop-off lanes. I managed to get up early enough last Friday to connect with them---they're only at the collection center on my end of town one half day a week---and I brought an entire box full of artists paints, inks and bottles of unlabeled liquids long forgotten. When I opened the trunk and the worker saw my box, he lit up. “This is some interesting stuff!” he said. There was well over a hundred tubes and bottles and he was actually looking forward to sorting it into their various bins. Another worker came over to see what he was so excited about and they made me feel like I gifted them with a treasure that will help them slay the dragon that’s torturing Mother Earth. 

I always knew that cadmium and cobalt colors are dangerous. We were warned about them in art classes back in the sixties. “Wipe it off your hands as soon as it touches your skin.” Artists have died from getting poisoned from certain colors. Modern testing of the exhumed bones of Caravaggio (early 1590s to 1610) revealed he died of lead poisoning and it’s believed that Van Gogh’s mental health issues came from his habit of sucking the ends of his paint brushes, giving himself lead poisoning as well. Modern science has even found a way to give Paul Gauguin a clean bill of health regarding a long-standing belief that he died of syphilis. Testing his teeth proved he'd never been treated with mercury which was standard practice for STDs back in his day. But he loved his cadmium colors so, who knows, maybe they killed him at only fifty-five years old? Cadmium based colors, which he favored and used abundantly, are known causes of cancer and kidney issues.

What I didn’t know until this week's trip to hazardous waste is that acrylic paints for artists---which I wrongly assumed were safer than oils and their mediums---release a vapor of ammonia into the air as they dry and the acrylic mediums we use to thin them contains formaldehyde. Additional research found a warning that artists are advised not to have drinking cups or food in their studios because of the vapors. The guys at recycling told me that they’d love to see artists bag up all our rags and the sludge that forms in the bottom of our brush cleaning cans and bring the bags into a hazardous waste recycling center. Yup, even paints labeled ‘safe for humans’ are not necessarily safe for the environment. I do love men who advocate for our environment and who have the brains to read looooong words on labels and understand what they mean. They told me to treat all artists paints as if they are dangerous to your health and the environment, even though some are safer than others. Write that down in your book of useful tips.

Over Labor Day weekend I had two things on my downsizing schedule, one of which was the task of sorting three boxes of teddy bear making supplies. I was dreading that because of all the crafts I’ve done over the years I loved making teddy bears the best and it was the hobby I was hot and heavy into when my husband had his stroke. It had been 17+ years since they were packed up and I wasn't sure what I'd find. To my relief one contained ten bags bear stuffing material and while it’s a higher quality than pillow stuffing, it’s still generic enough not to bother me to send it on its way.

Another box contained eight bears that had been cut out and are ready to sew together and assorted fur fabrics. Can’t sell them and I wasn't sure if I could donate something like that. But since the hardest and the most time consuming part of making bears is already done, I set two of the eight aside to keep. The box also contained patterns, joints, leather for paws and feet, silk threads for noses and findings for eyes, oh my! But the most fascinating box-within-a box that I opened was full of samples of imported furs. Some with prices as high as $78 a yard and those are 1990s prices! I had trouble trashing those, so I set a couple of samples aside to “pet” and buried the rest deep in the trash.

samples of teddy bear furs

Also unearthed in my teddy bear boxes was the cutest black leather jacket no more than 2 inches by 3 ½ inches big (shown in the photo at the top). That will make some little girl shopping for Barbie doll clothes at Goodwill happy. Unpacking one of the boxes was like going to a baby shower. I was pulling out vintage new born outfits hand over fist, meant to dress finished bears. After putting them in the washer and dryer and photographing them I had the baby clothing listed on e-Bay before the sun set. They won’t bring much money but it was fun playing with such little outfits. My favorite piece was a girls swimsuit in a preemie size. Who takes a baby that tiny swimming? I ended up keeping a 12" x 10" x 8" box of teddy bear stuff, and a large box of stuffing is ready for the auction house. I'm taking a bankers of assorted teddy bear making supplies including the cut-out bears to Goodwill. If they don't want them all bagged up and labeled like craft kits then they don't know what they're missing. 

I don't have many teddy bears anymore...only nineteen but all but five are under four inches tall and they live in a glass cube that doesn't take up more than eight inches of a bookshelf. Of the five bigger ones, I won't have trouble thinning the herd down to...four. ©

This happy guy and the bear in the photo at the top are the only ones I have left of those I've made myself.

My favorite artist purchased mini bears. I let them out of their glass cube long enough to photograph. They stand three inches tall and the stitches are so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see them. The smallest I've ever been able to make was five inches.

Another mini bear. He loves to take baths.

No self respecting bear lover would be without a Steiff. I have two. The big one is in the Federal Witness Protection Program and is hiding in my collectibles showcase.