Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Green Christmas of Eva

My sister knows of my love for all things green, so she sent me a few photos of an incredible Christmas tree that her good friend, Eva, created with the help of her students.

Eva Márquez is a high-school art teacher in the city of Écija, near my hometown. She proposed to her senior class the creation of a Christmas tree made with a variety of recycled materials. To begin with, they built the frame with long wooden beams


After the frame was ready, they covered it with greenhouse mesh





They gathered a bizzillion plastic bottles, cut them vertically, punched a couple of holes on the top, and threaded them with strong fishing line


The long threads of bottles were attached to the mesh like ruffles on a dress





Once the tree was completely covered in bottles, it was spray-painted in green and splashed in many different colors, in Jackson Pollock-fashion
 

Meanwhile, they decorated the tree topper


This styrofoam head was a dumpster find!


The tree was crowned with the head


Final touches to the masterpiece


 A nice closeup of the bottles


This lady-tree is so cool!  When I was in high-school, we never did anything remotely similar.  I can't even remember what we did in art class, which means it surely was lame and boring


A project like this has tremendous value.  I am sure that before this, many never saw a plastic bottle beyond its function as a carrier of soda or water.  This tree opened the eyes and the minds of a lot of people!


 And here are the proud artists!



My sincere thanks to Eva Márquez for allowing me to share her story, her tree, and her wonderful photos!



6 comments:

Casey said...

Gorgeous and so creative!!

Lp said...

It's a beauty!

Unknown said...

Beautiful!

Meadow Muffin Gardens said...

So creative! Guess it'll become a yearly tradition to set it up.

Michele said...

Love it. Keep reusing and being creative. The world needs you

Catherine Ivins said...

very cool, beautiful and such eco friendly inspiration!

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