A Bug’s Life
Five years ago, on the cusp of retirement, Bob Vavra pondered life after architecture. “Around the same time, my dad passed away,” he says, and Vavra was responsible for disposing of the contents of his father’s house. The basement looked like a hardware store; his dad ran one for 40 years. “He had thousands of keys, components, little electrical gadgets—you name it,” Vavra says.
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Rather than throw it all away, “I started experimenting, making these small creatures,” he says. At the Saint Louis Art Fair, he’d been inspired by a woman who made animals out of welded-together cans and pots. “I took the small pieces and began experimenting in the garage,” he says, adding that he used glue and screws rather than weld. “I found the keys made nice little legs.”
Super Bugs
Vavra’s “Litterbugs” (litterbugstudio.wordpress.com) are stocked at Fox & Hound Antiques and Decor, Urban Matter, Always Spring, as well as such craft shows as Green With Indie. Vavra’s pieces stand out in the sea of upcycled jewelry and punk-rock onesies. Lured by the familiarity of hand tools, “the men are hooked as soon as they pick it up,” he says.
Finding the Key
Vavra moved his projects out of the garage and into the basement. “The joke around my house is, ‘When am I going to be able to play ping-pong again?’” The table is where he lays out bug components, including driftwood, plastic hair curlers, finials, pieces of tin colanders, folding wooden rulers, golf balls, and, of course, old keys—which have “Vavra Hardware” stamped on them.
