As artist Abbi Custis worked on a commercially commissioned project a few years ago, she found herself fascinated by the paint residue splashing on the tarp sprawled across the floor beneath her.

While the excess paint was not an intentional part of the project, Abbi felt compelled to save the tarp, hoping to one day repurpose the chunks of paint lining the tarp for another project. Waste nothing and imagine everything, she thought.

After a few years of manifesting inspiration for how best to reinvent the residue, Abbi began to thoughtfully peel the paint off the tarp. She discovered that time had given the paint a unique texture and appearance that made it fun to work with.

With the paint scrapings as her focus, Abbi created a new “Outside the Box” collection. As its name starts to suggest, the collection features the repurposed, three-dimensional material emerging from a square canvas in an eye-catching manner. An epoxy resin coating adds a level of sleekness and sturdiness to the design.

Each piece tells the story of how something that is no longer serving a purpose can be transformed into something else that is new and exquisite. While the pieces in the “Outside the Box” collection are original concepts, Abbi feels that creating them has taken her back to her playful and colorful core as an artist.