WSMV Channel 4 Bulger's Beat: Artist finds inspiration where others see garbage

A local artist calls her creations "Gayla's Funky Flower Art," but she is not afraid to also call it Gayla's garbage.

Both are absolutely true.

That old line in the movie Animal House, "nothing is over until we decide it is," could be Gayla Pugh's motto as well. The things she creates are the things everyone else is done with.

"These are just the colorful tops from dishwashing and laundry detergent," she said. "And I create art out of these."

Endings are beginnings in the hands and creative mind of Gayla Pugh. Her life is giving new life to all things whose life was over.

"Everything you see in here is stuff that was gonna be thrown away," she said.

Instead, it is all resurrected as pieces of art. Things like discarded car wash tokens or a grandmother's brooch are now part of a bigger picture.

With a dab of glue and a steady hand, the artist is on her way.

"It's relaxing to me. It's my form of recycling and a way to create something out of broken things," Pugh said.

Just like her imagination, the materials for her creations never run out. When things break, most people frown. But she can smile.

Pugh is a 9-to-5 working mom, but her funky flower art is often her late night respite from real world realities. Plus it's just fun, she says, and she is fine if some folks out there can't see beyond it as garbage.

"Absolutely not, some garbage needs to be thrown away. But there are a lot of beautiful things," she said.

To be clear, she is not dumpster diving in the neighborhood around her Nashville home. She finds things for the most part, without ever getting her hands dirty.

For more on her creations, visit http://www.gaylasfunkyflower.com

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