From Trash to Treasure
Featuring artwork by Jo Fry
July 6-August 27, 2023
The Community Gallery
400 County Center
Artist Statement
"Beachcombing is a passion that has rekindled my creative spirit.
As a child I was always drawing. I won a competition in high school to develop our school logo, studied art and history at Birkbeck College, London and went on to earn a degree in Interior Design, graduating from San Jose State with honors. Real life, however, took priority over art and decades went by without me picking up a pencil or brush. I was a volunteer art teacher at my youngest child’s elementary school, but making my own art was something I didn’t have time for.
I started wondering the beach for exercise about 5 years ago, picking up trash, driftwood, sea glass, and anything that caught my eye. I began researching what I found, learning the history, becoming fascinated with each new discovery. I started making jewelry and art from my finds and writing about them.
Since 2021 I’ve had my art on exhibit in Bay Area galleries, been a part of Art and Sea Glass festivals within California and authored three articles on glass and local history for the Half Moon Bay History Association, where I am the bottle curator. I founded Fierce Siren Studios as an outlet for my paintings and ocean-inspired jewelry.
I like to think of myself as a re-emerging artist who found beauty and inspiration in the waste of the past."
--Jo Fry
