Spotted in Sebastopol
Patrick Amiot welds a piece of metal on a sculpture that will eventually be a panther on a tree at his Sebastopol property. (Christopher Chung / Press Democrat)
When Patrick Amiot discovers that someone has abandoned a used toaster and an old mailbox on the porch near his roadside sculpture garden outside Sebastopol, he’s not annoyed. He’s delighted.
“Oh look! Gifts!” the self-styled “junk sculptor” exclaimed.
The artist’s zest for other people’s refuse has made him a leader in the long-established but increasingly popular genre he calls “recycled art.”
Sculptor Patrick Amiot rolls a metal cylinder to be used on a piece in progress.
“I started out using just what I had, but now people drop stuff in my driveway constantly,” he said. “What a gift it is to be able to create something that makes people feel good, using junk that was bound to go to the dump.”
Amiot expects some 2,000 visitors to his Gravenstein Highway workshop over the next two weekends, during the annual ARTrails open studio tour, when more than 150 artists countywide will open their doors to the public.
Read the full Press Democrat story about Amiot here.
Facts about ARTrails
What: Free self-guided open studio tour at more than 150 sites all over Sonoma County.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 13 and 14) and Oct. 20-21.
Information: sonomaarts.com/artrails; 579-2787.
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