Wirral arts: Love grown from sea put in to exhibition for Valentines’ Day

Feb 6 2013 by Linda Foo Guest, Birkenhead News

A LOVE-THEMED exhibition using recycled materials is taking place at a Wirral gallery, in time for Valentine’s Day.

Hand-crafted items have been lovingly created by local artist Jo Smith, using objects found along the beach.

The self-confessed beachcomber loves to scour the Wirral coast to find hidden treasures.

Recycled materials such as driftwood, shells and sea glass are used to make unique wall hangings, sculptures and sea horses. Her latest work, entitled ‘Oceans of Love’, is on display at Seagrass Gallery in Hoylake until March 16.

Jo said: “I have made about 30 pieces of crafts with the Valentine’s theme and love. I have been working with a lot of driftwood and assembling them in to wall hangings, sculptures. I also work with shells, sea glass and vintage beads

“I have been really excited about working with clay, making love birds and quirky animals. I have created sea horses from recycled aluminium and driftwood.

“I love to walk along Hoylake and West Kirby beach every day to look for things I can salvage.

“Creating something can take a few hours or a couple of days, depending on the size of the project.

“I think it is very romantic notion to find ‘rubbish’ along the beach, then turn it into something beautiful.

“A lot of my pieces are also embellished with semi-precious gems and fresh water pearls.”

Continuing the theme, Jo has created a dozen collages to exhibit, under the title ‘Make time for Love’.

Produced from mixed media, Jo’s philosophy is that love continues to grow which she transfers to canvas depicting trees are rooted with love and flourish with hearts.

Prices start from £14.95 for wall hangings up to £250 for a painting.