Designer Beth Miles found a side calling in art that repurposes old objects.

Where does the art start and where does it end?

San Francisco-based Beth Miles has been a designer all her life. She has her own brand and specializes in slow fashion, additionally consulting on sustainability. Five years ago, she committed to paint everyday wherever she was, be it in her partner’s house in Carmel or during a vacation.

“It turned out to be the most exciting part of my day,” she says.

Now she is debuting with a solo exhibit, Everyday Objects. “It felt blasphemous at first,” Miles says about the series of paintings she has been putting together for the last decade.

She paints on the pages of old books and old Pencil Point publications – the original name of an American magazine on architecture that began in 1920 – using text as a reference and inspiration, “getting the lessons of the past” while creating, she explains. There are even novels she used as sketchbooks, for example I Claudius by Robert Graves that she started filling with images during her stay in Mallorca, Graves’ home in later years.

Many of those pages can now be seen in the Marjorie Evans Gallery at Sunset Center, in upcycled frames Miles found, having her other “objects” as company. One such object is a vintage army cot from World War II she repurposed. Another is a glorious maple leaf she found on the sidewalk.

Miles credits her passion for sustainability to her Illinois Depression-era childhood. She grew up as the youngest of eight children with parents for whom creation – of food, of everyday objects – was a necessity, not a choice. Nothing got thrown out.

“I’m really fascinated by how we consume,” she says. “There is so much integrity in old objects. Changing objects that are heading into landfill into gorgeous luxury pieces is honoring them,” she explains of her philosophy when it comes to making furniture.

Miles reflects on her 10 years of working on Seventh Avenue in New York, riding up in the elevator with Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan or Calvin Klein. “I come from an apparel background and I was trained as a commercial artist, but I really love the idea of stretching myself in that way,” she says. “I had to allow myself to become this.”

Everyday Objects by Beth Miles will be on display until Feb. 25. The reception is at 5pm Thursday, Jan. 22. Marjorie Evans Gallery at the Sunset Center, San Carlos and 9th, Carmel. Free. (831) 620-2048, sunsetcenter.org.