Who is Sufani?
Writer with two new releases this year, True Stories of an Urban Shaman~Living Between Worlds (A Memoir), and 1377 Rikoppe Lane, a haunted fiction thriller.
Place of Bliss Academy Owner & Director, Over 20K Students Globally, over 30K enrollments, 154 Countries, 41 Languages and growing.
Artist: I live to create. I think we are best as human beings when we are creating and engaged in the creative mind. It may be the sole purpose we have, being that every thing we do is a choice to create something (an attitude, a belief, an experience, love, etc.)
Wife, Mother and Pet Rescuer (well, they also rescue me)
How long have you been tapped into Upcycling, and how did you get started?
I think I have always been taking items that were free and making art from them. When you are young, and grow up with moderate means, you learn to take what you find and be creative with it. I have always done that so I cannot pinpoint a certain time. When I began living on my own it became important to find second hand items or things family could give and transform them to my style.
Please share more about your experience with Tech Upcycling.
When I worked with Adobe, they had so many tech items they just threw out that were broken or dead, that I saw it as an opportunity to transform them into art. Which I did.
What inspired you to create your first Upcycle Art, and what was it?
My upcycle art can be home decor, playful art and miniatures, gnomes, technology, antiques re-imagined and more. I never feel art needs a reason. It lives because some mind somewhere thought it up. I find art so interesting. Some of my art has functional meaning, every piece I work on whether it is a furniture upcycled or a piece that serves no functional purpose, is art to look at. I feel that you, your home and surroundings should be conversational pieces for others to enjoy! It can even be clothes I adapt. I made a pair of recycled jeans into a purse I use every day!
Where do you source the materials used to create your Art pieces from?
Depends on what the art piece is. Thrift stores, antique stores, from nature, pieces thrown out, etc.
Do you channel the Artwork first, or does it flow when you have the materials in sight?
Both. Sometimes I see an item, and like Michael Angelo, I see inside it what it is. Other times I have the idea and seek out the pieces.
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![turtle made of recycled keyboard]()
Keyboard Turtle
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![usb power tech robot]()
USB Puppy Power
Do you have a favorite work of Upcycled Art? If so, why that particular one?
I don’t think so. Each one I see as a child of sorts, something that brought me a ton of joy to create. Well, actually, yes there is one that is really, really special. I made a Faux Grandfather Clock out of 50-year-old antique farm crates for carrying fruit. I had a storyline that was in my head for some reason and began creating it. The story was about the people who owned a mansion having fallen into hard times and had to move out. They had moved all the furniture out of the mansion and packed it up. For some reason, the grandfather clock was left abandoned in front of the mansion. Over the years of the mansion’s abandonment, the landscaping began to slowly take over the grounds. As it did, it began to grow inside the grandfather clock, slowly taking it over, and making it a part of the wild and beautiful landscape. In a way, the grandfather clock was captured in time by this experience. In the story, the landscaping healed the clock by being with it and letting it know it was not alone. It became part of a greater whole. It stands 6 feet in our home, and I love it to death. If I had to give up everything and keep only one, that would be it!
What advice would you give to someone who is sparked by your creative light and wants to venture into the Arts of Upcycling?
Do it! Don’t care if it makes sense or has a purpose. Don’t limit it and if you have an idea and it’s getting stuck, it’s because the idea wants to become something else you couldn’t imagine, and you should go with that! That’s where it’s at. Art also happens in the mistakes, so let mistakes happen.
What insights can you share with the world to help reduce roadside litter and create a cleaner environment?
First, don’t litter. Next, pick it up and make something out of it. Instead of buying a canvas, perhaps pull over and pick up that hubcap on the side of the road and use that. There are free art supplies pretty much everywhere you look. It’s a good way to cut down on supply costs and to do something unusual and extraordinary. I once used plastic retail bags from shirts to make flowers for a globe mobile that hung like a chandelier. I taught all my employees how to make flowers and once we did, we painted them and made something out of them for others to enjoy. We even gave people flowers by attaching a stem collected from outside that had fallen from trees. They loved it.
“Love Yourself More”
- Sufani
We are deeply honored and grateful for Sufani's generosity in allowing us into her creative space and home. Sharing her artistry and insights with us is truly a gift, and a beacon of inspiration.
