For 20 years, female artists based in Cecil County and nearby areas have been making art out of what other people would consider garbage. They call themselves the Trashy Women.

“The Trashy Women find unexpected beauty in the discarded and the rejected,” they write in the artists’ statement introducing their latest show, which runs through June 3 at Penn State Great Valley in Malvern, Pennsylvania. “They share this superpower with others, through teaching and exhibition of their art; and encourage each member to develop her own artistic potential.”

The collective now includes founder Maggie Creshkoff, plus founding member Sue Eyet, Caryn Hetherston, Dragonfly Leathrum, founding member Jo Pinder, Donna Steck, Trebs Thompson, Jamie Troiani (who considers herself an adjunct member), Mindy Ward and Colleen Zufelt.

They like to “explore the myriad uses of materials too often headed for the landfill,” Creshkoff wrote in 2019, when promoting a summer camp at the Center for the Creative Arts in Yorklyn, Delaware. “Plastic bottles, tin cans, feed bags, detergent containers and the like will serve as the starting point for participants to fuel their creativity and to see beyond the intended use of those objects. So-called ‘trash’ will be deconstructed, assembled, riveted and grommeted into artful objects rarely seen this side of the globe.”

Here are brief profiles of the full members from Cecil: Creshkoff, Eyet, Pinder and Steck.

Maggie Creshkoff

Maggie Creshkoff came up with the idea for Trashy Women in 2004 when she was visual arts coordinator for the Cecil County Arts Council. She asked three other artists to join her in a show at the Chesapeake City Town Hall.

She had started her artistry in clay – she’s been running Backlog Pottery for over 40 years, making objects from local clay – and began working in recyclables in 2002. “It’s intriguing to work with things that had another use and lived another life,” she said. “It’s kind of an artistic alchemy, and it helps me stay open to the possibilities of change.”

She has loads of raw material – “Tin cans, rusty metal, broken furniture, discarded jewelry, beads, baubles … the list could go on and on!” – in the basement of Backlog, her family farm near Port Deposit.

She teaches sculpture and 3D Design for Cecil College, plus art workshops throughout the year.

“The inventive, imaginative work of the other members of the group continues to surprise and inspire me,” she said of Trashy Women.

Details: [email protected].

Sue Eyet

Sue Eyet grew up in Harford County and has lived between Port Deposit and Rising Sun since 1980. She and her husband recently bought the old post office in downtown Rising Sun, which she plans to use as a production studio and to offer classes.

She works in art therapy at Harbor of Grace Recovery Center & Ashley Treatment.

Artistically, she began with stained glass, basketry and metalsmithing. Currently, she focuses on stabiles, mobiles and jewelry from found objects.

“I was bitten by the recycling bug when Maggie’s husband, Bobby Hansson, was creating his book, ‘The Fine Art of the Tin Can.’

“I’ve become fixated with the idea of creating with objects that society sees as having lost all value. These fragments of everyday life, created with great materials, have survived the tests of time. They didn’t wear out. The small dents or scratches enhance the beautiful color, patina and quality, and after a good cleaning, a new life begins.

“Tin cans, coins, keys, silver plate serving pieces along with vintage eyeglasses, crystal necklaces, old hardware, clock fragments and a mountain of other materials are cleaned and organized and waiting for the next project or class.

“The Trashies share a love of the arts as well as each other. Materials are passed along among the group, ideas bounced off one another, and Maggie the Magnificent keeps us moving forward to the next event.”

Details: [email protected].

Jo Pinder

Jo Pinder was born and raised in Colora and returned there. She is retired from Eldreth Pottery in Oxford, Pennsylvania, after 30 years as head decorator and designer.

“I’ve always been a creative, using found materials,” she said. “My mom was a master at such. With her, I learned a love and appreciation of antiques and folk art, and my aunt provided walks in the woods and art books.

“My first truly recycled things were cigar boxes painted with folk style images. Recycling was what I could afford really, and it allowed for creative thinking.

“My main materials have been crayons and their papers, old papers, tea tags, fabrics, cigar boxes, old windows for painted collages, folk bird and cat ink drawings.

“Being a part of the Trashy Women has given me confidence, feedback, respect, courage. I’m the hermit. A lot of my shyness comes from my deafness, I suppose. So I haven’t practiced talking much, but I am a good listener because I have to listen so hard.

“My work for Trashy Women changes a lot from our founding to now. I like pushing myself. I can’t say that I have a consistency except that it’s always nature- and folk-inspired. I would say that the materials I am drawn to are color- and print-forward.”

Details:www.facebook.com/jo.l.pinder and www.instagram.com/jolynnpinder.

Donna Steck

Donna Steck offers two possible origin stories for her recycled art. “One could argue my handkerchief as a haute couture gown was the first foray, but public school budgets almost always test your creative re-use capabilities, both as a student and a teacher.”

Steck, who lives on the Mason-Dixon Line in Cecil County, has been a middle school art educator for the county since 2004 and joined Trashy Women a year or two later. She began her artistry in acrylic paint and watercolor and works in fiber arts. She is also a “hobby farmer, semi-pro dancer and recreational ring jouster.”

“Growing up in the ’80s was a brainwash of ‘Save the Planet,’ hole-in-the-ozone, 3 R’s litany,” she said of her interest in recycled art. “I didn’t have to be old enough to understand it all. I just felt the logic behind making the most of what one has. It’s part OCD, part generational poverty, part responsibility.

“One of my most successful art creations was my ‘Label Me’ series, where I created garments out of those irritating tags. I have a fabric fetish, where certain textures and colors are an immediate attraction, and I tend to hold onto those until the precise moment of need.

“I did a lot of weaving with cassette and VHS tapes. Mylar is a fascination, as is Styrofoam, because it’s supposed to last forever. Who needs archival paper, when one is using things famed for NOT decomposing? On the flip side, I dabble in some experimental taxidermy and have a fondness for forest treasures.

“Currently, I have a lot of broken fence boards and old leather equestrian items that I just adore. They are too comely to discard, so I like finding ways to prolong their lives.”

“It is necessary to have a cooperative of like-minded women to support, inspire and enable to live out my soul’s purposes,” she said of the collective. “Each ‘Trashy,’ as we like to refer to ourselves, is a powerhouse of dedication, prowess and strength. I am one of the younger members. I have always felt like the ‘baby’ of the group, but what that means is I am surrounded by awe-inspiring elders who compensate for my lack of an interesting heritage.”

Details: [email protected].