HE COULDN’T SHAKE THE FEELING THAT SOMEONE WAS WATCHING HIM. Artist Roger Adams scours garage sales, searching for the unique and reusable fixtures to be used in his creations.

The first thing you notice when turning the corner onto Farwell Street off of Harding Avenue, is the profusion of flowers spilling from a quaint, white house. Its unassuming manner creates a charming backdrop for the wealth of green to take hold and blind the viewer’s eye. 

Roger Adams is made in a similar vein as his house, quiet with an abundance of intelligence and passion for living things resting beneath his calm demeanor. His passion finds an outlet in the sculptures, paintings, and works of art that he has been creating for the past 20 years. In an effort to respect the earth and cherish it, Adams employs recycled materials in virtually every aspect of his art, stating that, “Ecology is the thread of life.”

Every year Adams scours garage sales, searching for the unique and reusable fixtures that are often thrown away and discarded in our capitalistic society. Adams even gathers the dryer lint from his laundry to create paint that contains a texture akin to Van Gogh in its finished project.

Each artwork that Adams creates holds a message for the world and the careless treatment many humans bestow on, “The only planet we have,” according to the artist. In addition to dryer lint, Adams also draws his finished creations from used frames, old pictures, buttons, wood, rock, toys, and more, ultimately leaving, “nothing to waste.”  

Adams’ own house and surrounding garden is a testimony to the firm belief in the green movement that he possesses. He points out that his art, which is born out of reusable materials, is a statement of how man needs to be the protector of the earth, “Humans are like army worms. We chew and eat the grass and everything green, until there is nothing left.”

    Although Adams began working with art as a hobby in the 1980s, he is now devoted to championing the message of not only green, but conservation of every living thing. Some of his more provocative artwork was inspired by the past president and carries messages not only in the art itself, but oftentimes they are inscribed with a message from Adams on the back.

Traversing through his treasure trove of abandoned material, I was able to view the lengths that this charming old man ventures in order to pursue his simple philosophy of knowledge and conservation. Armed with these two weapons, Adams is slowly and surely battling against the rising tide of careless brevity that humans today take with their objects and the earth itself.

Humble to a fault, when describing what causes him to create, he responded with a small smile, “It’s my life. And if by doing this I can make people smile, chuckle, get angry, then I’ve done something right.”

Adams’ recycling art brings us to the realization that our earth is more important, more precious, more essential than most of us care to realize.

Roger has art exhibitions at Just Local Food Co-Op and InfiniTea Teahouse in Eau Claire throughout the month of August. See the "Now Hanging" page for more details.