Just when y'all thought I had run out of cheap art materials, I have found the ultimate use for cast offs from those couch potatoes who will be watching the Football games this weekend...pistacio nut shells.
These photos are by Balla Tamas, http://www.ballatamas.com/kreativ/en_creative.html for more information.
Corlette T. Baylock from Cleveland has his own website (art on the half shell) where you can go and discover the many uses of pistacio nut shells. The photo below is courtesy of his website.
How can we turn the humble pistacio nut shell into a method of teaching children body proportions? Well, I remember learning if you draw a round shape for a person's head, then the typical person will be seven more heads long.
Another of his neat projects - You can make a rain stick by sealing the pistacio nuts into a cardboard tube. Note to self: keep pistacio shells next time I indulge - that sounds like a really fun open ended project for kids!
But why stop at people? these nut shells also make awesome looking jewel beetles (Christmas beetles - June bugs); jewellery; furniture decorations (might be hard to sit on though) and any other 3 dimensional craft.
Kid's bored and needing entertainment? Can you imagine how well a pistacio nut shell with a face on it would fit onto your finger - and there you go, a mobile finger sized puppet theatre. Don't care if the kids see you drawing on your hands? Then you could finish off the body down your fingers. Note to self: place pistacio nut shells into pocket for doctors waiting room (how Corlette got started).
OK, now the kicker, he recently completed a commissioned (think largish sums of money) nut-art picture of a crowd scene - 700 faces including Paul Newman. I wonder if he's done the Mona Lisa yet?
Here's an interesting aside: Pistacio trees are a quite ancient crop thought to have originated in Central Asia. One of the main producers in the world was Iran, until the war. The dramatic decline in supply has caused prices to rise, and other areas with similiar climates (California and Australia) are beginning to grow this crop. After grafting it is 4-6 years before you get your first crop, and 20-25 years before the trees bear fully. Trees often continue to bear nuts for 40-60 years more (at the ripe old tree age of 85). Before you think about putting some trees in - check if your climate is right: cold winters (less than 5ºC in July, and down to -18ºC) and long, hot dry summers (more than 32ºC in January, and up to 38ºC).
Regardless of your chance to grow these trees, you're nuts if you don't recycle these shells nextime you buy a bag......
Aussie Kim
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