Buy Art for Dogs -- The Art of John Alsip

The Gift of Art ~ And The Gift of RE

John Alsip, the Santa Fe Artist who created beautiful sculptures out of REcycled and REpurposed objects, has donated a large body of his work to The Dog Park Project.

John created art at and around The Dog Park out of recycled and found objects. The Dog Park served as his open air studio and source of inspiration for many years. His work is beautiful and serene. The smaller pieces (suitable for private gardens) are now available here on this page. The larger items will become part of a sculpture garden at The Dog Park. Since The Dog Park was itself recycled, it is a fitting home for some of John's work. John, thank you. We are truly humbled by your gift. (Please see John's biography below).

To purchase a piece of art, call or text me directly: Jane Larson at (505) 231-4920 regarding the # piece you would like.
Or email us at info@SantaFeDogPark.org.
​Local pick up in Santa Fe required.

100% of the profits will benefit the Santa Fe Dog Park

The Gift of Art ~ And The Gift of RE

John Alsip, the Santa Fe Artist who created beautiful sculptures out of REcycled and REpurposed objects, has donated a large body of his work to The Dog Park Project.

John created art at and around The Dog Park out of recycled and found objects. The Dog Park served as his open air studio and source of inspiration for many years. His work is beautiful and serene. The smaller pieces (suitable for private gardens) are now available here on this page. The larger items will become part of a sculpture garden at The Dog Park. Since The Dog Park was itself recycled, it is a fitting home for some of John's work. John, thank you. We are truly humbled by your gift. (Please see John's biography below).

To purchase a piece of art, call or text me directly: Jane Larson at (505) 231-4920 regarding the # piece you would like. Local pick up in Santa Fe required.

100% of the profits will benefit The Frank S. Ortiz Dog Park

Thank you, Ed and Diana Coderre, ​for your beautiful photos of John's work

John F. Alsip and the Art of RE
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​Sometimes it takes a while for underlying creative sensibilities to make their way to the surface. This was the case with John Alsip. When he retired from a long career in production agriculture, Big-Ag as it's known, he began collecting cast off objects that he found in his wanderings along highways and byways, along railroad tracks, or just by the side of the road while taking an early morning walk. There was no intended purpose in mind when he 'collected' these discards, and it would be a few more years before he began reassembling the cast offs into sculpture. Once this process started, it continued for fifteen years almost non-stop. John reevisioned, recombined, reworked, and reinvigorated these found objects, all the while asking "WHAT IF?" Over the years his intuitive wabi-sabi sensibility emerged. This artist aesthetic is defined by a keen eye for the beauty in the old, rusted, and weathered materials in combination with discarded metals that made up his palette. He continued finding his resource material in arroyos, along trails, in forest burn scar areas, at the Salvation Army, the RE Store of Habitat for Humanity, and Capitol Scrap on Santa Fe's south side. Blue glass bottles, glass light shades and globes, and cooking pot lids all became eye-catching elements in his work.

John's creative output has manifested itself in two large bodies of work. The first was his creation of the 'RE House' in Langley, Washington on Whidbey Island. The 'RE House' was featured as part of the 'ReEnergize Convergence' conference sponsored by Whidbey Ecollaborative for Sustainability. All REmodeled aspects of the 'RE House', inside and out, consisted of REcycled, REconfigured, REassembled, and REpurposed elements--constantly REferring to his concern for elevating awareness in the community for REcycling. RE, in upper case, is referenced throughout John's notebooks RElating to his art work.

A second body of work was created here in Santa Fe and began when the Alsips bought a house bordering the Frank S. Ortiz Santa Fe Dog Park. John's sculptures popped-up and then disappeared; enchanting countless dog walkers over of the years as his sculptures popped-up along the east boundary of the park. His sculptures include garden pieces, works that hang on walls or posts, sculptures that hang from and in trees, and sculptures that pop-up out of walls. Sadly, John is no longer able to work because of health issues. So there will be no new pop-ups along the trail. John Alsip's work is in numerous private collections throughout the West and in public spaces on Whidbey Island, Washington. John was born in Tacoma, Washington; he attended Whitman College where he received a degree in economics and business.
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Bio written by Catherine Thayer