Beemerville artist holds open house today

Beemerville artist Wayne Card will host his annual open house at Wayne’s World, his outside studio, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 10.

Located at 42 Card Road in Wantage, the studio houses more than 40 three-dimensional works ranging in size from a dinner plate to a full-grown totem pole and boat.

Donations will be collected for the Karen Ann Quinlan Foundation in honor of Card’s late wife, Lorraine. Suggested donation is $15 a person.

He always enjoyed woodworking as a hobby, but after retiring from JCP&L as a lineman, he let his creative spirit fly. He is self-taught, working with clay, wood, granite chips, twigs, cement, stone, glass, tile and recycled antique items.

Inspired by the beautiful waste materials he finds, Card labels his art genre “The Art of Recycled Art.”

Card will be at the open house to answer questions.

Gathering raw material from estate sales, roadsides and fellow artisans, he works on several projects at a time.

“Sometimes I collect items and then I am inspired,” he said. “Often I have a vision and seek certain eclectic materials.

“Working as a lineman, I would be on the top of an electric pole on a street and see what folks were putting out for garbage. It made my creative mind spin. I’d ask and they would give me items. That’s how this all started.”

After a trip to Germany in 1996, Card constructed his “Potsdamn Wall,” using sliding barn doors and mosaics. The original cast iron sliding wheels are still attached to the doors.

“As a cancer survivor, I have constructed my own casket from the discarded floor boards of the Beemerville Presbyterian Church, my church,” he said. Established in 1834, the church’s flooring had stood the test of time. The coffin is on display at the studio.

His work includes the cross at the northeast side of the Beemerville Cemetery. It is made from upright hand-hewn silo staves from a local Dalrymple barn and barbed wire.

He is working on three new art projects and repairing the rock wall surrounding the Old Beemerville Cemetery at the corner of Crigger Road and Route 519.

“Art should give you a smile on your face and make you happy,” he said.

Card does not sell his work.

The open house is rain or shine. Wear appropriate footwear for a walk in the wilderness art park.

For information, send email to waynercard@gmail.com