Trash treasures
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on February 22, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Quentin Warren holds a scrap piece of paper that he drew a political cartoon on. Warren uses anything at hand as a canvas to create his art so he has the freedom to make it when inspiration hits.
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While at restaurants, Quentin often feels inspired to turn his cup or take-out box into pieces of art.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Quentin Warren gives kisses to one of his nine rescue dogs that he takes care of on his family farm. Warren has a heart for the animals and hopes to find permanent homes for them.
It is not trash.
The stacks of receipts and take-out boxes that clutter Quentin Warren's closet are not results of years of hoarding.
They are his portfolio.
Each piece of paper is a work of art.
Quentin saves things.
He collects scraps of paper and trash with an artist fever, repurposing them into canvases for his "eco-art."
A lottery ticket becomes a caricature of his waitress at IHOP. He transforms a pie tin into a wall hanging. Even bits of tinfoil are sculpted into figurines to decorate the top of his fridge.
"I call it eco art," he says. "I take things that would otherwise (have) been thrown away and make it something."
He does not like to throw away something that can be reused.
"It's like my art and sense of trying to preserve the Earth has collided," he says.
He has spent the last few years without a vehicle, which has given him a new understanding of how littered the North Carolina roadways have become. The trash is more noticeable when on foot.
"When you're in a vehicle, it might not be so bad," he says.
So he spent one afternoon along a little stretch pulling litter out of the swamp and lining the roadway. He found chemical buckets, bicycles and a toilet seat among the discarded junk.
He took a photo of the chilling results to show how much people are "trashing up the Earth."
Quentin has always been creative.
In high school, he took art classes that sparked a lifelong love of drawing with ink and charcoal.
He has been drawing on ordinary items in what he calls his "profuse creative stage."
It provides a challenge to him, though.
"How do you take something on scrap and turn it into something where you can display it?" he asks.
Even organization of his stacks is an obstacle. He has considered framing, or even just burning the papers.
He says he understands that he is not famous enough for someone to want to buy a Styrofoam cup with a drawing on it.
But that does not stop him.
"Friends and family get kind of mad, like 'Quentin, why don't you do this on a canvas?' Well, if I stop to go get a canvas, it's not going to happen," he says. "If I could only turn this into a money-maker."
He is selling his large pieces, including wood drawings and tea towels, at the Center Street Bazaar and at Towns Antiques on Center Street.
"Art is a funny thing," he said. "You never know where the market is going to be."
He signs his work with different signatures, trying to find a name that represents him as an artist.
Many are signed DESOLC, which is "closed" spelled backward. Quentin does so to highlight his open mindedness. Others are scrawled with Imaod, an acronym that means 'I must art, or die.'
"Even if I'm starving on the side of the road," he says.
He also uses that acronym for his dog rescue site, but there it stands for "Irresistible mutts are often discarded."
His family farm in Snow Hill is home to nine dogs that he has rescued and hopes to find permanent homes for. He takes them on two walks per day and plays with them in the fields.
But taking care of nine dogs is a lot for anybody.
"I'm struggling," he said. "I'm having a hard time maintaining these dogs. I love them. It's going to break my heart to see them go."
He used to be in sales.
"You hear about rags to riches stories, well I'm a riches to rags story," he said.
These days, he tries to juggle his dogs and his need to create. A milk jug sits on his front porch, cut and drawn on to resemble a pig. It is full of balls for his animals and titled the "Ball Hog."
"Little titles come to me," he says. "My creativity overflows a lot into poetry."
He works quickly when he creates -- with a spontaneity and speed -- knowing he might not have a chance to complete the piece if it isn't done immediately.
"I may not get back to it. I have nine dogs and I still haven't raked the yard, and oh yeah, I have to make some money," he said. "It's not easy."