For FINDINGS! Karynn Kozij’s marine debris art.

Found for FINDINGS before the artist created…

and after= Frazzled Model Mom by Karynn Kozij, marine debris artist.

Former model Fritzy’s hands are FULL: children in arms, cooking, cleaning, picking after everyone. She looks and feels fabulous and feisty, is a friend and an inspiration for everyone. She wears the BEST smile. Dreamily recalls your young, carefree model days, she wears her sapphire glow so well on her every digit. Litter Patron is highest on her volunteer list. She is exceedingly proud of her twins. It’s a juggling job being that of a mon; she handles it with grace! –Karynn

Tall yellow Minion Mike who is 2 minutes older than…

Gary, shorter and green.

Frazzled Mom and her twins

Q: Who is Karynn Kozij, you ask?
A: Growing up on a farm in the province of Saskatchewan in Canada, Karynn Kozij loved perusing her Dad’s stash of materials in his shop, shed, garage and outbuildings. He had everything to create anything from a bird house or a toolbox, to a trailer or a potato planter.

She can’t pass up anything that at first seems to be trash but could possibly be turned into something else. She’s the one you see stopping on the sidewalk to pick up a squashed flat metal bottle cap or pull tab from a beer can, or a scrap of wire that is lying near a utility pole. She takes apart dried up writing pens before they go into the trash can to salvage the metal spring inside it. She is picking up trash, going through trash and making something out of nothing.

March 2016 spring storms spilled a treasure chest of marine debris onto our Northwest coast. It was sad and depressing to find so much trash on our shores. Karynn drove down onto the beach daily and hauled carloads of trash off the beach. The sadness and depression turned into fascination and obsession. With that awakening, she was unable to throw away so much perfectly good rope and became inspired.

Karynn saw possibility in those hundreds of feet of rope with an elaborate entry into the Marine Debris Art contest in Cannon Beach where she won the People’s Choice Award and third place in the judged contest with her entry, Octopus Family Reunion at the Beach.

Karynn works in many media. Something first destined as trash really grabs her eye; it’s a win win! Look closely in her art to see some part of it that was something else in a former life.

She was FOUND while picking up mail.

Foreign exchange student Kim visiting the Gearhart beach with Tillamook Head of Seaside in the distance. Indeed, every piece found had foreign letters and numbers, hence, the name!

Kim’s back story: Kim spent a school year here as an exchange student a few years ago and comes back every year to visit his Pacific Northwest host family. He plans his study trips around the Spring tides for beach combing opportunities. He is fascinated by the wind and ocean currents. He documents every single thing he finds from other countries. Kim majors in world climatology and is on a scholarship from the National Oceanic Administration. –Karynn

But, wait, there’s more…

Fortune teller, Pearl

Pearl’s back story: Trust the Zodiac and its signs, reads Tarot cards and white horoscopes. Gathers beach debris daily. washes and sorts items according to a color chart. Make art in communal workspaces and sells worldwide. Monitors marine debris worldwide; gets overwhelmed by it, but does her part locally in taching classes about recycling. –Karynn

Great Great Grandfather Kraken…

fondly watching over his offspring at the Gearhart beach.

Great Great Grandfather Kraken’s back story: “Oh my arms don’t work like they used to. Stories and novels have been written that I used to pull down ships with east but now I am weak and very, very old. The little guys snicker at my bowtie but I have always liked being a dapper dresser. I do love the lore of sea monsters. –Karynn

Appreciation to Don Frank Photography.

Shoutout clues:

Karynn Kozij lives in ____________, is the postmistress at the US Post Office in _____________, and will be at the Fairweather Gallery FINDINGS opening reception, Aug 5th with her marine debris art. Octopus family reunion at the ______________beach. The artist and her story of finding things was found while picking up mail in __________________. Don Frank shows selected art photos in the ____________Gallery in Seaside, as well.