Aline Bloch | August Volunteer of the Month
We honor Aline as our Volunteer of the Month recognizing her great work as Volunteer Décor Leader for Once Upon a Highlands Day…. Aline has contributed her talents in other ways to the community. A couple years ago she donated to Blakely Hall a beautiful menorah she created out of cardboard. She also founded and ran the French Club which appealed to all who loved all things French. Here is her story, or in keeping with the Highlands Day theme, her fairy tale.
Once upon a time… my husband and I decided to leave Paris, to explore a new country and a new culture. In 2008, I quit my job, grabbed my two little kids, took some French recipes with me and followed my husband from the City of Lights to the Emerald Green City.
We fell in love with Issaquah Highlands right away while we were looking for a place to settle: the landscape, people’s kindness, the multi-cultural spirit, the feeling that the city would grow and the unique sense of community in this neighborhood.
I can’t believe that we have been here for so long; It was supposed to be a 2/3 years adventure…
We have three kids now. Erinn is entering in 8th grade, Rafael in 6th and Zoe in 3rd.
Aline Bloch and family
Creative and respectful of the environment, I decided to recycle the moving boxes we accumulated in our garage and make something useful out of them. From a simple hobby, I came to Aline’s Cardboard designs using new styles and earthy colors.
Artist and designer, I upcycle used cardboard and turn it into works of art that can be used as furniture and home decoration accessories. Through workshops, auctions, fairs, shops and markets, I share my artwork and passion for giving a second life to cardboard, this medium that hides so many richness’s. The originality of my work had me featured on National TV and several local medias.
Today I am thrilled to be part of the growing upcycling artists community, a community where transforming what most people consider trash, into a beautiful modern art medium.
I never stop dreaming and I always spice my life with new experiences, new challenges, new opportunities… You never know what can happen!
As my work evolved, so did my outreach to my community. For the last couple years, I have been volunteering as an art docent at a local elementary school teaching artist-based lessons to students aged 6 to 12.
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- Over-sized cardboard fairy tale books
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- Be on the lookout for fairy houses during Highlands Day
Creating design décor for scenery has been on my wish list, so I couldn’t resist doing it for my neighborhood. Once upon a Time…. What a theme! What an opportunity to help my community by doing what I love and making people dream for a day! This project has been a challenge, since it’s not what I am used to do. But I had a blast and I cannot thank the volunteers enough for helping make my project a reality!
Highlands Council is grateful for Aline’s leadership and creativity to bring this year’s Highlands Day Festival to life. Enjoy her work at the festival and visit her website: alinescardboard.com. Get sneak peeks of her Highlands Day projects on her Facebook page.
