By Rita Cook

Artists Elizabeth "Sissy" Bingham and Lynn Reagan of the Rockin AB Artists Studio got started on their eco-friendly artist quest as mosaic artists about 10 years ago.

“We started taking mosaic classes at the Creative Art Center and found our niche,” said Bingham. 

Today, the two sisters give new life to discarded objects such as broken dishes and glass while incorporating rocks, shells and other items they find for their projects.

                         
                      Sissy with "The Beauty Within"    Lynn showing off "Max"

Bingham says she and Reagan don’t call their work “craft.”

“We are artists that love turning odd objects into works of art,” she said.

Some of the more unique “found items” that Bingham says the two have used  include old bowling balls, which they transformed into the East Dallas Yard Animals. Ranking among the artists' favorite pieces, the motley characters are also quite popular among their clients and are hard to keep in stock.

With Bingham living in Farmer’s Branch and her sister Reagan in Little Forest Hills, where the women’s studio is located, Bingham says they have a lot of fun looking for materials to recycle, something she calls “curb shopping” around town.

In fact, she is currently collecting debris for an upcoming charity project, Red River Reclamation’s "Picking up the Pieces." The auction will be held on Aug. 17, at Valley View Center at Dallas Midtown, benefiting tornado victims in Texas and Oklahoma.

Bingham said the objects themselves inspire the creations. 

“Most of our ideas come from just handling the pieces or seeing a table, mirror and styrofoam and saying ‘Wow, what a great piece and this is what we will make of it,’” says Bingham. 

“Everything inspires us,” continues Bingham. “Particularly finding that one of a kind item and trying to make it into art, like the bowling balls.”

                 
                      Mr. Slither at the State Fair of Texas 2010

You can see their work at the Rockin AB Artists Studio and at various local exhibitions such as The Friends of Lottie Sculpture Garden Exhibit at the State Fair. They have also had pieces in the Henderson Art Project and will be installing a piece for a two-year exhibition in the city of Mesquite's Art Around Town Program. Rockin AB Artists Studio sells their work at a diverse price range from $5 to several thousand dollars.

“Most folks like the iron pieces, but now several folks are seeking us out for our large outdoor mosaic sculptures," said Bingham. "We are one of the few mosaic artists that make large outdoor pieces entirely out of mosaics.”  

State Fair of Texas Totem Exhibition 2008

All photos: Rockin AB Artists Studio

Read more about the artists. 

Lynn Reagan
214-616-6542
Lynn@RockinArtists.com

Elizabeth "Sissy" Bingham
214-850-1405
Sissy@RockinArtists.com

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Rita Cook is an award winning journalist who writes or has written for the Dallas Morning News, Focus Daily News, Waxahachie Daily Light, Dreamscapes Travel Magazine, Porthole, Core Media, Fort Worth Star Telegram and many other publications in Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago.  With five books published, her latest release is “A Brief History of Fort Worth” published by History Press.  You can contact her at rcook13@earthlink.net