Brown Paper Bags Gone Wild, Or How I Learned to Creatively Recycle my Brown Paper Bags

Joyce Robinson is an artist who has worn many hats (or, actually, purses).  A former opera singer and music teacher, she now brings her soaring voice and strength of character to create the vibrant and fanciful handbags of Brown Paper Bags Gone Wild!

Robinson’s raw medium is the drab brown paper bag and with it she has wrought exuberant and, certainly wild, transformations.  Always anything but plain, her bags are ornamented with beading, feathers, natural fabrics (including linen, cotton, and mud cloth), and paint.  The sturdy bags have been used by her clients as functional handbags, table centerpieces, and artworks for home display.  

Robinson recounts an early memory of her mother curling her hair using torn strips of paper bags.  She has certainly proven that out of an everyday bag one can not only coif a child’s tender curls, but also ignite a Pygmalion-esque spark of the spirit.