Why Home Depot and Lowe’s are Awesome

Finding the right materials to bring my studio creations to life is essential. While many artists frequent traditional art supply stores, I've discovered some rather unconventional sources for inspiration and materials: Goodwill, flea markets, estate sales, Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, Lancaster Creative Reuse, and yes, Home Depot & Lowe’s. Home improvement stores? Yes indeed, although to me, the home improvement I’m on the hunt for is more of the realm of wild handmade decor.

Walking through the aisles of Home Depot or Lowe's feels to me like stepping into a giant treasure chest or Easter Egg hunt. From wood and plaster to tile and wire, the variety of materials available is inspiring. I never know what hidden gem I'll stumble upon next. It's like being on a never-ending artistic scavenger hunt. Sure, often I’ll go with a goal in mind. Floetrol for paint pouring, for example. Also, things like glue, caulk, and aluminum or steel wire for various applications. If I don’t go in with a shopping list, I’ll get distracted in an instant by all the delights I see.

However, I will often go just to browse. Not for styles of new kitchens, but for armature-building ideas for the next critter I’m thinking about making. Orpheus, for example, started as “octopus” as the only idea in my mind. A stroll through Home Depot took me past 8 foot long plumbing pipe insulation foam and voila - the start of his eight arms was born! Who would have thought that a humble plumbing part could become a critical part of the armature of a sculpture? 

These are aisles of endless possibilities for me. Usually items, like the aforementioned pipe insulation, don’t even enter my visual/thought process while walking the aisles  unless I’m on the lookout for a vague notion of some sort to start with.

Additionally, I’m rather cheap (um…frugal), and these stores really help on that front. If you’ve not stepped foot in a real artist supply shop, let me tell you…they’re friggin’ expensive. Certainly there are some things I’ll only buy at a real art supply store. One does have to maintain awareness of quality and the longevity of materials one is using. But when Floetrol, which is a long-lasting archival product for paint pouring, costs about $20 a gallon at Home Depot, is compared to the pouring medium from the two BIG names in fine art supplies (Liquitex and Golden) which cost $27 for 16oz. and $32 for 32oz., respectively, well….need I say more? To Home Depot I go!

I buy enough masking tape, it seems, to keep 3M in business, as well as inordinate amounts of joint compound. I also pick up popcorn ceiling patch, plaster, tile adhesive, silicone caulk, foam, sanded grout, ginormous rolls of heavy-duty cardboard, aluminum and steel wire, tile, etc. There’s other stuff I regularly source there…and there will surely be more in the future.

I must say it can be very fun to wander the aisles and flummox the staff a bit. Perusing pipe fittings carefully one day, I had one staffer after another come up and ask if I needed help. “No thanks, just browsing” I’d reply. They must have thought I was looney. Working with plumbing parts is not typically a “browsing” type of activity. You need a certain size, a certain diameter, a certain angle. Maybe they thought I was building my own kinda Habitrail thing? Hmmmm….

No, let’s not even go there; I’ve got enough other things to make.

Now…what would make a good armature for vertical wings about 4 feet tall? I guess my next trip to the home improvement store is in order!