Repurposing for a bright future

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• South County Beat: ‘Edgar’ represents Arroyo Grande pub’s values

  South County Beat: ‘Edgar’ represents Arroyo Grande pub’s values

  ‘Edgar” sits outside the SLO Down Pub on East Grand Avenue in Arroyo Grande, pouring red “wine” from a bottle into a wine glass. He is life-sized and totally made of recycled parts, the metal sculpture brainchild of the pub’s manager, Mark London.

  Edgar sits on an old beer keg from Firestone Brewery in Paso Robles. His hands are crafted out of rebar. His fingers are made of old bedsprings. His mustache and beard are made from a grinding bristle on a drill.

  Edgar’s long hair is fashioned from old, broken guitar strings donated by Lightning Joe’s Guitar Heaven in the Village. It took London and helpers 40 hours to tie them to the head, kind of a community project.

• Remembering to Reminisce

  Remembering to Reminisce

  At a time of year when ads hype battery-operated, mass-produced holiday cheer, a few shops sit quietly in the background and offer up something simpler and homespun.

  Reminisce in downtown Paso Robles is one of those shops. It has been some form of antique store for 25 years. Today, it offers a mélange of goods that combines antique, vintage, new and handcrafted. Their products for the home in clude antique and vintage furniture, art, architectural elements, home accents, and gifts.

  Jeannie Bork, who has owned the shop since 2006, has been selective about the 38 vendors who fill the stalls of her 4,500-squarefoot “village of shops.” You won’t find shelves of jumbled knick-knacks or dated furnishings. Furniture, both antique and vintage, is either in prime original condition, or expertly refinished. Home accents are just as thoughtfully chosen.

• In the right frame of mind at Johnson Framing Studio

  In the right frame of mind at Johnson Framing Studio

  While some kids were clamoring for trips to Disneyland, Gail Johnson spent many happy childhood vacations perusing art galleries and museums.

  “My parents wanted to expose me to as much art and culture as was available to them,” she said. “I grew up in San Luis Obis po, and in the 1950s there really wasn’t much in the way of art here.”

  One exception was a local framing store owned by Myron Graham. Visits to the shop as a child proved significant in setting Johnson’s career path.

• A.G. woman finds new way to help old cause

  A.G. woman finds new way to help old cause

  As a new empty nester, Janine Stillman of Arroyo Grande was sitting in her studio with friends and found herself making a puzzle piece out of her medium — fused glass. A friend reminded her it was the autism puzzle symbol. And a whole new career began.

  Before becoming a glass artist, Janine worked in Pismo Beach as the director of the Center for Educational Therapy, a business she and Dianne Olvera, an educational therapist, had founded. They helped students with minor disabilities all the way up to the severely autistic with all aspects of education.

  Attracted to this field because of her oldest son’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Janine worked closely with autistic students and their parents.

• Custom clothing: As prices have dropped, more men are buying dress shirts made just for them

  Custom clothing: As prices have dropped, more men are buying dress shirts made just for them

  Custom-made men's dress shirts were once considered the privileged peacockery of the moneyed set - a dash of sartorial swagger that could be afforded only by Hollywood A-listers, Wall Street bankers and monocle-wearing aristocrats of a bygone era.