Oakland artist creates earrings from shattered car glass
Oakland artist turns shattered glass from car break-ins into jewelry
Sydney Jones transforms pieces of glass from burglarized cars into earrings and also turns wine bottles into vases and candles.
Oakland - Shattered glass lined a street in Oakland on Friday — a telltale sign of a car break-in.
"All the kids these days are calling it getting 'bipped,'" Oakland artist Sydney Jones said with a laugh.
Jones collects the broken glass and transforms it into earrings she calls "bips."
"When we're walking, sometimes I'll run home, and I'll grab a bucket," she said. "Even just one shattered window actually can make thousands of little beads."
Recycling with a twist
Local perspective:
Most side and rear car windows are made of tempered glass, which cannot be recycled and usually ends up in landfills. Jones shared a video on TikTok that has since gone viral, showing how she melts the shards in a microwave kiln, reshaping them into glass spheres.
She sells the jewelry at the Jack London Square Farmers Market and other craft events through her business, Odd Commodity Shop. Starting in October, her creations will also be available at Alta Vina wine bar near 3rd Street and Broadway in Oakland.
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Alta Vina owner Henry Spivey gives Jones empty wine bottles, which she repurposes into vases, candles, and colored earrings.
"I call ‘bips’ Bay Area diamonds," Spivey said, who opened his doors five months ago. Jones was a customer.
"I’m very happy with the partnership and look forward to giving Sydney and Odd Commodity Shop as much glassware as she can take," he said.
Turning negatives into positives
Big picture view:
Jones, who works as an architect, said her creations reflect her fervent belief in sustainability and upcycling.
"Rewriting the narrative, that we can make something positive out of something negative," she said. "You hear a lot of the bad news, and I thought, let's make something positive. This is a place that's very special to me."
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
The Source: KTVU reporting