Item #2008-0018

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This hangs in my entryway, and I have to say how much I love it - I LOVE IT! I customized it for K and I, so I put a buddha of mine on it and a wolf of hers. This item cost me ZERO dollars to make, because I had all of the materials. The bark is from firewood we had, and the pine cone pieces came from mother nature too.

The drawers are actually from a desk my dad used when he was a kid in the 50's to use his ham radio. I found the drawers up in the attic at my grandparent's house and made one of these for my dad. I had made one for us, but it had fake flowers in it, and didn't really represent us like this one does.

Item #2008-0008

Buddha and Kuan Yin Devotional
Made with a wood slice from Goodwill (50 cents), 3 birch pillars from a yard sale ($1) and a piece of pottery from Salvation Army (99 cents). The Buddhas and Kuan Yins I purchased at Heaven and Nature (http://www.heavenandnaturestore.com/).I call it a devotional because I put water in the cup as an offering of devotion.

The funny thing is that now my cats show their devotion by drinking from the cup! Kuan Yin is often depicted with an upturned vase with water flowing from it. I guess my kitties are meditating about Kuan Yin when they drink from the cup. "I must have more compassion, I must not shred the recliner!

Item #2008-0009

This is the true beginning of my 60's and 70's style art phase, going back to earthy tones and using twigs and rocks may seem silly to some, but it is beautiful and makes sense to me! I especially love this piece because the owl was a pendant of my mother's that she got in the 70's and then I inherited it when she passed away in 2003. Some of the rocks in this piece were actually hers, and the origami butterfly in the lower left corner was hers also. The tray was free from Freecycle (where I request consideration for just about anything wood that I can make into art ;) I call this a mosaic, even though it doesn't fit into what people would traditionally call a mosaic - who needs to be traditional? You don't need to be when you are me!

Item #2008-0007

I got the idea for this when I was at SA and found old wood napkin rings for 99 cents. When glued together they make a great stand for a tealight holder! You'll be able to see in this piece, and most of the art I have done after this, that I love river rocks, and I love gluing them all over the place. The rocks are so beautiful and yet cheap, so they make the best kind of art!

The buddha is from Thailand and it is one from my collection - I am starting to transform my collection of buddhas into art and am really enjoying it.

Item #2008-0006

I made this for my friend's 9 year old daughter because she was redoing her room for her. Nikita is a very special kid, and her mother is amazing, so I wanted to contribute something beautiful to her new room. I customized it to match the colors of her room. All of the items in this were either free or I already had them. The wood for both parts of the plaque were actually from this guy who let a bunch of strangers dig around in his garage and have things for free - I came home with a big bag of scrapes of beautiful birch plywood. I LOVE free!

Item #2008-0005

This was made for my friend Hilary to announce the birth of her daughter Maddie. Hil is very different from Casey (who the previous item was made for) and I got the idea for hers when I was at a yard sale and bought a cutting board in perfect condition for a buck. Hil is a little more country and Casey is a little more rock 'n roll, so their custom art is very different. The white fencing I literally had for 3 years and found a use for! My enviro-ethics make it hard for me to throw things out that could be used later - oh well, it is good to have strong enviro-ethics even if your drawers are overflowing with things you will use someday.

Item #2008-0004

Two of my friends were having babies at the same time in June, and I decided to make them birth announcement plates like the one that I made for my nephew last year. For his I used a plate, but for my two friends I could not find a plate that suited them at a thrift store, so I got creative!

My friend Casey was decorating her nursery in black, red and white - because she is so cutting edge ;) I got the ugly wood tray at a flea market for a quarter and the only other thing I had to buy were the black and white bone beads - everything else I already had. I am one of those people who holds on to things forever and say "I'll use it for something someday!" Even the fabric around the edge of the tray is a guatemalan purse strap that I have had hanging out for years and finally found a use for! Casey LOVED it!

Item #2008-0003

This a lamp that I literally made from a piece of firewood from our first camping trip of the summer this year at Tobyhanna State Park here in PA. There was some really cool wood in there, and some awesome bark (only I think bark is awesome ;) I was looking at this log and I said "This would make an awesome lamp!" Within a week it was a lamp!

Most of the materials were free - I got a lamp kit for a buck at a yard sale that weekend, and the base was made out of four heavy wood feet that came off of a sofa that I got rid of - it was their heaviness that inspired the name "Solid Foundations" - it is unusual for me to name my art because I don't want to come up with silly names for everything I make - thus item numbers instead.

The awesome thing about this lamp is that whenever people come over they say "You made that???" I will have and love this lamp forever.

Item#2008-0002

This is my first attempt at a mosaic, and I have to say that I absolutely love how it turned out. It is made mostly with beads that I had left-over, a pendant that I had and glass "stones" from the dollar store on a wood box lid that I got for 50 cents at SA. A lot of people loved this when I showed it to them and I ended up giving it to an amazing woman who was my advisor when I was in graduate school. She helped and guided me so much that I wanted her to have it to show my appreciation for what a beautiful soul she is.

Item #2008-0001

K celebrated 20 years sober on May 17th and I had always wanted to have a plaque professionally made for her, but we were broke at the time her anniversary came up. I am actually glad we were broke because it made me get creative! All I had to buy was the wood trivet from Salvation Army for $1 and the letters from a craft store because I already had the crystals. Blue tiger eye for strength, pink quartz for love and amethyst for sobriety. She is an amazing woman to have been through what she has been through in the last 20 years while managing to stay sober.

Item #2007-0008

This minor creation was very simple to make. It is a native american medicine wheel that I made for K out of a wood tray from Goodwill and rocks that K already had. We hang it on the wall and align it with a compass so that it matches the four directions.

Item #2007-0007

This plate was so easy to make, but it is one of my favorite items that I made in 2007. That might be because I made it after I got married and we hyphenated our names :) or it might be because it greets me everyday as I come home and reminds me that I am a Heimel-Heck now.

It is just a plate from Goodwill that I got for 50 cents, butterfly rub-ons from the craft store and I used paint pen to write on it. I then glazed it with ceramic glaze spray. I have made these for friends and family, but unfortunately did not take pictures of them! I wish I had because I individualize them for each person I make them for.

Item #2007-0006

I made this out of a shadow box frame that I got for free on Freecycle. I wanted to frame some buddhist pendants that I had because they were pretty fragile. I printed the picture of Kuan Yin, and then I glued coins of the chinese zodiac to it. The coins represent the women in my life on my mom's side - from Karin and I, to my mom, to my grandmother and then my great grandmother because we all share in the legacy of having struggled with mental health conditions. This piece is very meaningful to me because it also represents that over time it has become easier to deal with mental illness because of advanced treatments, so I was lucky enough not to face what my forebears went through.

Item #2007-0005

This was something I originally made for my father in a high school art class when I was 17 back in 1988. My teacher handed me a branch and said "make something." I was pretty damn proud of it. When my father was getting rid of stuff so he could sell his house he asked me if I wanted it. YES! Unfortunately, the cabin fell into disrepair - so I "renovated" my cabin in the woods. I absolutely love it! Be sure to click on the photo for a larger version, so you can see the little toilet paper roll in the outhouse :)

This is what it looked like when I got it back from my dad 19 years after I originally made it:

Item #2007-0004

I got this cute little lamp base from Freecycle... I thought it was neat but didn't know what I was going to do with it. When I picked it up the original glass shade fell off and broke (because I am a klutz) and the wiring was old, so I knew I was going to have to rebuild it and come up with a shade for it. I started by adding some gold paint to the stove and then adding a stem for the lamp kit.
Once I got that in place I started gluing rocks on it like crazy! If you can't tell from my other work, I love rocks and crystals and I love to add them into my artwork. All that was left after that was to make a lampshade - so I bought an ugly little shade that was falling apart from Goodwill and I used the metal frame of it to make this cloth lampshade out of fabric I had. I was thrilled with how it turned out.

This is what it was made from...

Item #2007-0003

I call this a Tibetan house blessing. It is a plaque that I made out of a tibetan Om Mani Padme Hum bracelet that I had purchased on eBay. I *was* wearing the bracelet until two of the soldered pieces fell off - so I figured why not glue some rocks on it and make it something pretty!?

I have it hanging opposite the door into my apartment so that it can act as a blessing plaque.

Item #2007-0002

This item was also a gift for Karin. The frame is a solid walnut frame that I got for free because it was really messed up - so I just sanded it to make it look more earthy. I got the driftwood while we were in Vermont for our civil union five years ago (8/29/03). I made her walk the shore of Lake Champlain with me carrying a trash bag while I picked up a bunch of driftwood. Unfortunately, when we moved to PA in 2004 I got rid of it - but man I wish I had moved those sticks with me! I could add them to my huge box of twigs!

Item #2007-0001

I made this little beauty for Karin as a wedding gift after we got married in MA on 1/22/07. The frame I got at a Salvation Army and I refinished it (you'd be surprised what kind of beautiful solid wood frames you can get for 99 cents that just need a little sanding and some paint or stain).

The symbols swirling around the yin yang represent the phoenix and the dragon (auspicious symbols for marriage), heaven and hell (for our last name Heimel-Heck), and I think there is the symbol for love, change and a couple of others - maybe I should have written them down? The reason I say symbol is because they are based on Chinese characters, but I am sure if you read Chinese you will tell me that the symbols are EXACTLY right. That is okay though, because art is not at all about perfection.

Studio38 Art

I started making crafts back in 2005, and I was very creative with the work that I did. Starting in 2007 I feel evolved and I have a progressed from "making" crafts to "creating" art. The difference to me is not just one of aesthetics, but of inspiration. When I made crafts it was mostly about production, not thinking in an innovative way or imagining a new way of doing things.

I like this definition of art that I found: "the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects."

I guess the most important reason I see myself as an artist now is because I can look at an object, see the possibilities in it and then create a work of art from it. Whether it is a log from a campfire that I make into a lamp, or a real butterfly wing that I create an entire piece around.

When I scan through all the shelves and tables of stuff at thrift stores and yard sales I can see the potential in that ugly old tray over there, or that old knicked up cutting board. I buy stuff and add it to my collection of stuff I can use someday or I immediately know what I am going to make with it.

Since I got serious about my art I started to give my work to friends. I wanted them to know what my art was about, so I created a certificate to go with each piece, and started giving each piece an item number. I like using this certificated because it helps explain to people that their art is environmentally friendly - and that I reuse materials for my art to help keep trash out of landfills. I also include on the certificate where I got the materials I used to make their piece.

Well, enjoy looking at my art!

"This piece of art is handmade using mostly repurposed objects and frequently made with natural materials. I always scan thrift stores, yard sales and flea markets for anything that I can repurpose and reuse as art. Our society in the U.S. is obsessed with rampant consumerism: constantly needing to buy more and more new things, while throwing the old stuff into landfills.

By buying the base and some of the pieces of my artwork at yard sales and thrift stores (some I even get for free) I am able take a bite out of consumerism, stop buying things made in China by slave labor, keep materials out of the landfills, and create a unique and one of a kind piece of art. This makes creating my artwork environmentally friendly and less expensive. Most importantly, however it makes my work challenging and very enjoyable for me."