All Art, No Waste

Sherri James loved sitting on the front porches of her small, progressive college town in Ohio, sharing stories and a glass of wine with friends. What she didn’t like was the idea of throwing away the empty bottles, since her town doesn’t recycle colored glass. But instead of a conundrum, Sherri saw an opportunity and created Blue Moon Bottles to turn waste into beauty.

Blue Moon Bottles, now six years old, creates handheld works of art from reclaimed wine bottles. Sherri’s drinking glasses and vases are made from bottles that vary in color, size and shape, but all catch the light beautifully. She collects the bottles from friends, neighbors and local restaurants that save them for her so she’s got enough material to keep working. Each piece of “wine bottle reclamation art,” as Sherri calls it, is a hand-cut original. This idea came from one of our good friends here at Daily Grommet, Barbara Gordon.We love the smoothed edges and weighty feel of the tumblers, and the graceful curves of the vases. We also love the genuine commitment to sustainability. Her studio (like her home) is solar powered. She uses reclaimed materials to package her products and often rides her bike to the post office to mail them, with a repurposed child bike trailer in tow. We’ll drink to that!

— Cara