Item #2008-0047

Item #2008-0039

Another 20 year plaque for Karin's 20th year sober. The three colors of Tiger Eye represent strength. This one is for home, the other one (2008-0001) went to work with her.

Item #2008-0034

This is a plaque I made with a Buddha hand carved in Lamphoon Thailand. It was a gift to my friends Gina and Sue who went to Thailand forseveral months this past year. It is great to share my art with loved ones.

Item #2008-0038

Assemblage art nativity created as a gift for a friend. Made of ceramic and river rock.

Item #2008-0027

Now, this piece is VERY special to me. I made it for my friend Diana, whom I call Lady Di. I have given her some of my jewelry in the past and she told me she didn't have a jewelry box. I always intended to get her one - but instead I made one with jewels on it befitting a princess! Love you Lady Di!

It is also special because I used some of my grandmother's costume jewelry and some of my own on it. Can you believe that I made that box out of this? It was a kid's box that held a microscope - my wife nabbed it at Goodwill for me.

Item #2008-0019

This was made with a real butterfly wing that was glued to a coaster and then coated in clear spray many, many times so that it looks like a bug in amber almost! I had to do that to preserve the delicate structure. This was one of two butterfly wings I found in my mother's belongings after she died. I tried my hand at woodcarving for the first time on the coaster, but not the carving on the frame. The frame was made in Thailand and I got it at Goodwill. It had a couple dings in it, so I just spray painted it and highlighted the carving. The backing is made of laminated stationary, and the two golden leaves were earrings of my grandmother's.

I made this for my friend Tina because she was having a birthday party and I wanted to make her something special. I immediately thought of butterflies, because she loves to photograph them - and is very good at photographing them (check out her blog at: http://blackcatsmom.blogspot.com/ - she is a very skilled photographer, having mastered macro shots like I only could dream of). She loved it, and I am glad I could share something special like this with a very good friend.

Item #2008-0018

Item #2008-0017

Item #2008-0016

Item #2008-0015

Item #2008-0014

Item #2008-0013

Item #2008-0011

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 #2008-0001

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 #2007-0002

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.