Petaluma ‘upcycle’ artist turns trash to treasure

Rachel Lynn Hernandez transforms recycled goods into works of art.|

One man’s trash is a Petaluma artist’s treasure.

Rather than dispose of items such as ineffective light bulbs or jar lids, “upcycle artist” and Petaluma native Rachel Lynn Hernandez transforms these not easily recyclable objects into unique works of art.

“Recycling was always a huge thing with my family,” she said. “My father worked in grocery stores and he despised plastic bags. I was definitely fueled from that at a young age.”

Working from her garage, Hernandez enjoys experimenting with different recyclable materials gathered from a variety of sources to create her art. The 30-year-old said all her work incorporates at least one or more components made from recycled material.

Musician friends give her guitar strings they no longer need, while others offer up their dead light bulbs. She picks up wood rounds from a speaker company on Ross Street called Mesa Boogie and takes apart electronics such as computers and dysfunctional game consoles to scrap for various parts to add into her artwork, which includes light bulb terrarium wall installations, string and button art, fish caves and wildlife magnets she created using jar lids and bottle caps.

“I take pride in being able to say that each of my art pieces has some component that’s staying out of the ocean or not being caught on or swallowed by an animal,” she said.

During her sophomore year at Petaluma High School, Hernandez “just kind of fell in love with art,” she said. She took a dark room class and after learning how to use a 35mm SLR, she realized she wanted to pursue art as a career. That same year, she started basic experimentation with upcycle art – taking magazines or newspapers and cutting them up and reassembling them.

However, it wasn’t until she attended California State University, Sacramento that her passion took off. While in college, Hernandez said she started to learn more about the big issues the planet faces in regards to garbage, and realized she wanted to do whatever she could to help.

“I know me creating this artwork isn’t going to solve the problem all together but I really have a drive to inspire other artists to use something that’s not useful anymore and put it into artwork,” she said.

Miscellaneous pieces of her art are on display at the Roaring Donkey in downtown Petaluma and some of her button art is at the Hartford Family Winery in Forestville, she said. She also enjoys collaborating with other artists in town, including a group called “Free Art Friday,” a collective of about 30 to 40 local artists that hide original art pieces around Sonoma County as part of a weekly scavenger hunt facilitated through social media.

The group has organized a few art shows, primarily in Santa Rosa, at events such as the Wednesday Night Market and Winterblast where Hernandez said she has also displayed her artwork.

She’s also had the opportunity to work closely with Petaluma’s George Utrilla, “The Random Artist,” working as his assistant for about a year. Utrilla, the official live painter for the Oakland Raiders, has become a familiar face around Petaluma, showcasing live painting events around the city at venues such as Gales Central Club and others, creating unique original artworks for an audience.

The two met through a mutual friend, and as his assistant, Hernandez attended a majority of the Oakland Raiders games with him, learning about the sales and business side of art, how to display her work and more, which “has helped out immensely,” she said.

Lately she’s more focused on her own art, so they don’t work together as much but she said they still collaborate.

She’s currently working on various Pokémon string art projects after receiving multiple orders and positive feedback from her Mirrored Mind Design page, she said. In addition to creating new art, she’s working to get her creations displayed in more Petaluma venues and to forage more connections in the thriving local art community.

Hernandez hopes to eventually have a warehouse that would allow her to work with a collection of different artists while also acting as another recycling source for groups – collecting and re-purposing garbage or other materials from creek or ocean cleanups, she said.

“I would want to have a place where people who are doing that tireless work can bring that garbage,” she said. “I want to make it easier for them and have somewhere where they can dump all that off and know that the artists will be refurbishing those items so they don’t end up back in the ecosystem.”

For more information, visit instagram.com/mirrored_mind_design.

(Contact Nicole Santos at argus@arguscourier,com)

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