Patti Lee Pippen
Trash to Treasure Transformer
About Patti Lee Pippen
I am a maker-shaker high-energy artist alchemist. I’m also a singer, songwriter, actress, costume designer, doll maker, sculptor, and I can cook!
I began loving things theatrical at age 5, starring as Mother Goose in my kindergarten’s show. Growing up I studied piano and voice, was a girl scout and earned many badges, and starred in all my high school musicals. I studied voice and theater in college, where learned to make props and costumes and do stage carpentry. After college I married and moved to Minneapolis where I worked in dinner theater, both acting in productions and doing costumes. I had a daughter, then later divorced and moved to New York, where I made bridal gowns and Flamenco dresses, did a nightclub act, costumed a couple of original shows, and learned to write songs and stories.
In the early 90s I had an epiphany after the “garbage barge” disgusted all of New York. I determined to make all of my arts and crafts from found materials. I began making one-of-a-kind dolls, wearable art, robots, and Christmas ornaments by upcycling what I had leftover from projects and from found materials. I am a self-taught sculptor. I’ve made many commissioned pieces and I’ve taught workshops on making art from trash to teenagers and how to make upcycled Christmas ornaments to all ages.
One day the Angel of Imagination came to see me, and then all my creative endeavors came together in the form of the Litter Critters, my multi-media project. (see next pages). So now my little omniverse includes Ecobots, Trashkals, Eco-wear-ables, Eco-Christmas Critters, and The Litter Critters.
And that, best beloveds, is how I became the proud Crittermother you meet today.
My motto is: Creativity – Gotta Have My Daily Dose!
Who is Patti Lee Pippen
For years I have been making arts and crafts from old, discarded, found, and recycled stuff, and teaching kids how to do the same. I have condensed the list of my work so that I can more easily speak about it.
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I make things and write stories and songs about what I have made.
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I am a teacher, writer, activist, and mentor to children.
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I have created green programming for children.
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I am a champion of the Earth and the environment.
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I seek to nurture all things small and growing.
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I seek to promote self-esteem, individualism, and creativity in children.
We have become the “throw-away society.” We can no longer afford to squander the gifts that Mother Nature has given us. We can no longer continue to “dump” on the Earth. We need to take responsibility for our actions concerning waste and pollution because our children will inherit this wasteland. It’s high time for us to nurture Mother Nature, and it has to start with teaching our children. Children take these lessons to heart and can then influence their parents and teachers. Eco-crafting and needs to get bigger and reach more households.
In the words of a song that I wrote: “So you’ll go tell your brother, and he’ll tell still another, on and on until we tell all the world.”