The Maker: Alisha DuBois

About 16 years ago, Alisha DuBois needed a kitchen table. “So I decided to build one,” she says. “I found an old metal column on the side of the road, took it home, and made a table with it.”

Inspired by her success with discarded decorating, DuBois started discovering pieces of art nearly everywhere she looked. “I made a few planters and birdhouses out of old kettles, tool boxes, even bedpans. Friends liked them, so I started to sell things on my Moose and Squirrel Show Facebook page.”

DuBois’ journey to art started in the kitchen. The Leeds native attended culinary arts classes at Trenholm State Technical College in Montgomery, and spent a while working in hotels and retirement communities. “Then I made my table, got married, and decided to try something else,” she says.

Moose and Squirrel Show from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Life with her husband, Glenn, a retired robotics engineer, forms the basis of the Rocky and Bullwinkle-themed business. “He’s a big burly guy who I think looks like a moose – and I have the attention span of a squirrel,” she says. “I think the name pretty well describes us.”

These days, the Alabama artist spends her time in her home studio, turning trash into treasures, traveling around the country attending arts and crafts fairs, or diligently digging for discards. “I find a lot of my stuff at yard sales and flea markets, or going through old barns and garages. People even send me items from their family and want something made out of it.”

Some of the offerings at The Moose and Squirrel Show. DuBois turns old tools, kitchen utensils, propane tanks – and even bed pans – into colorful works of art. (Mark Sandlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

In her Boaz workshop, Alisha DuBois creates whimsical birdhouses, planters, and pieces of garden art from discarded objects. “I still have that sense of discovery every time I find an item I can use,” she says. (Mark Sandlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

Some of the offerings at the Moose and Squirrel Show. The artist creates unique birdhouses from discarded lunch boxes and old copper kettles. (Mark Sandlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

Some of the offerings at The Moose and Squirrel Show. DuBois turns old tools, kitchen utensils, propane tanks – and even bed pans – into colorful works of art. (Mark Sandlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

DuBois turns old tools, kitchen utensils, propane tanks – and even bed pans – into colorful works of art. (Mark Sandlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

Propane tank piggies anyone? DuBois turns old tools, kitchen utensils, propane tanks – and even bed pans – into colorful works of art. (Mark Sandlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

DuBois turns old tools, kitchen utensils, propane tanks – and even bed pans – into colorful works of art. (Mark Sandlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

While birdhouses remain DuBois’ biggest sellers, her “potty bird” planters are growing in popularity. “They’re made from old bedpans,” she explains. “That may sounds gross, but once the plant grows out the whole thing looks like a big, fluffy bird.”

Whether DuBois is transforming a tiny copper kettle into a home for hummingbirds, or shaping a colorful planter from an old tool box, she lets her imagination lead the way. “I guess my fascination with found things started when I’d come across something on trips to my grandmother’s house,” she says. “I still have that sense of discovery every time I find an item I can use. I try to imagine it as something new, kind of like a kid seeing faces in the clouds.”

The Products: Birdhouses made from recycled kettles. Planters formed from discarded bedpans and tool boxes. Hand-sized “dinosaurs” created from old wrenches.

Take Home: A recycled Cooper Kettle Birdhouse $30-$50 (depending on size).

The Moose and Squirrel Show

Email: artbythecase@gmail.com

205-999-4423

Alabama Makers explores the artisans, crafts people, carpenters, cooks, bakers, blacksmiths, designers and others making original and extraordinary items in our state. If you know an Alabama Maker, let us know at alnewscenter@outlook.com.