I received an e-snail ( sorry, I couldn’t resist), I mean email the other day from a friend wondering if I wanted some worn out dental tools. I jumped at the chance.  Yes, these are the items that oddly enough when people come across them, they wonder “hmmm, Melissa might want to use this.”  The “tools” were discreetly passed to me in a box at church.

Recently I had scraps of priceless rusted metals handed over to me while out Christmas caroling. I have my sources.  All of these goodies will come out to play in a collage no doubt.  I really don’t have a landfill in my studio, but I do have bits and pieces I collect for my art.

As for the escargot dish,..let me explain. I have come across lovely miniature mortar and pestles at the farm implement store. I have no idea why they would carry them on the shelves, but I fortunately found them, and they are perfect for grinding and mixing egg tempera and pigments for my work in icons.  I shared one with a friend and fellow iconographer, and she told me about one of her best discoveries,….an escargot serving dish. Weeks later one arrived in the mail from her, to me.  It is a nice pallet for mixing and grinding several colors of pigments, and I would recommend them to anyone out there doing similar work, including watercolor.