SPRING 2014 • FLOURISH 43
they no longer want. He's a big believer
in using items that have outlived their
original purpose and says, "We hope to
make some impact on the amount of use-
ful material buried in our landfills each
day."
A lust for metal
A few yards away from Szuec's studio,
Sculptor Patrick Amiot and painter Bri-
gitte Laurent use a wealth of found mate-
rials to create urban folk art. "I'd always
had this desire to work with junk," says
Amiot, an artist who worked in clay until
he gave into the lure of reclaimed items.
He decided to explore new media when
his pieces started getting large, leading
him to question his use of clay when oth-
er shapes were abundant. "I just thought
it was a waste of energy," he says.
Starting with flea market finds, he put
a huge fisherman made from a boat, a
wheelbarrow and a tank in front of his
Florence Avenue home in Sebastopol in
2001. He expected town officials to order
him to remove it, but instead, he learned
that one of his neighbors liked it and had
