Found

The best kind of art and friend

I’m proud to call Dr. Pia Salk, yes of that Salk family, a good friend. And among the best collaborations I’ve partaken of was assisting in her stint as a shopkeeper at a storefront called Found in Irvington, NY — if briefly. She inspired me, the child of hoarders, with all her meticulously organized mason jars of craftable treasures. I like to believe I always ride the line on the right side of going too far with this stuff, by at least keeping things in proper containers.

But she had me quickly aligned with her mission of making things from whatever I found lying around, and still does. For her birthday she got a bunch of ladies together to decoupage plates on her kitchen table. We sell stuff together over the holidays sometimes. I first met her when she had my kid smearing art all over her hands in the park. Pia is also a great lover of animals, and some of their humans.

I think one of the best songs of all time is “Hyperballad” by Björk. Its lyrics from the cliff edge always speak to me and make me think of Pia’s jars and all the creative potential of the minutia of the everyday, even if that’s not quite what Björk had in mind -

We live on a mountain

Right at the top

There's a beautiful view

From the top of the mountain

Every morning I walk towards the edge

And throw little things off

Like car-parts, bottles and cutlery

Or whatever I find lying around

My art, crayon wax and beach glass, sandwiched around Pia’s holiday sale sign: