“I’ve always been collecting found objects for my garden,” she says. But two years ago, she stumbled upon a novel idea — hubcaps as yard art. “The pattern looked like a sunflower. So, I painted it, and I got a kick out of it.”
She started decorating her garden with the vibrantly colored hubcaps, and pretty soon neighbors and friends wanted some, too. So she began selling them as Blooming Hubcaps. Today, she has a garage full of wheel covers waiting to be turned into art for interested buyers. And it’s not just yard art anymore.
“As they get more elaborate, they become more suited for a wall in a home or an office,” says Zigrossi, who has a design background.
Photo by Can Türkyilmaz
She “rescues” abandoned hubcaps from scrap yards, and friends often recycle them for her.
“Sometimes, I’ll come home, and there’s a stack of hubcaps left on my porch.”
To transform them into pieces of art, she first sprays the back of a hubcap black, then adds primer to the front followed by several layers of paint. She seals it with one last coating and sometimes adds embellishments. Design themes range from Art Deco to Mardi Gras. She even makes festive hubcaps in honor of the Dallas Cowboys and the Mavericks.
Zigrossi says she always has dabbled in painting, but now, it looks like she has discovered her niche. “I found my medium. Who knew that wheel covers would be my medium?”
• To buy one of Sharon Zigrossi’s Blooming Hubcaps, visit her on Etsy at etsy.com/shop/bloominghubcaps. Each piece is $60-$65. Custom designs are $70.
