Beauty is in the eye of the guy picking through a pile of discarded concrete on the side of the road to extract several pieces of rebar. Or the woman scouring the beach for shards of glass, washed ashore from faraway lands.

Items that would appear to most of us as junk — destined for the landfill or recycle bin — are often collected by artists who see things differently.

They can see the potential of rusty wrenches for the bones of a fanciful robot. Or picture how a broken-down headboard will make a unique garden bench. They perceive that stacked ceramic tiles make a great pedestal, perhaps for a friendly gnome. And they can envision how old box springs can coil into new life as ornamental designs along a fence.

We recently met up with five artists in the Bay Area who create work from reclaimed materials, and who have this kind of art down to a science.

Read the whole article here:  From the junkyard to the garden: Artists reclaim materials for masterpieces – San Jose Mercury News.