Is this altered art, too?

David Adams
(Webmaster, altered-art.net)

We recently heard from Richard in Florida, USA. During an autumn cleaning of his cabinet shop he'd started some interesting art projects using scrap wood, metal, stone, plastic and antique tools. He sent us a couple of pictures of one of his pieces, and wanted to know 'Is this altered art?'

My answer was that although it would certainly be considered to be mixed-media recycled art, or something of that nature, whether it would be regarded as altered art according to the common definition was less certain.

Richard has been kind enough to send us more pictures showing some of his other pieces.

Here's an example that I found particularly interesting. The sea and the seashore have always held a special fascination for me, so I was very taken by the maritime subject.

Blues and blue-greens, too, are some of my favourite colours, but what I particularly liked about this piece was the way that Richard had used the natural grain and texture of the wood to suggest ripples and eddies in the surface of the water.

Is this altered art?

I'd say probably not. Nevertheless, I think that in this piece Richard has made excellent use of recycled materials.