Reflecting Affirmations Mirror

New from our studio- our Reflecting Affirmations Mirror. We've been wanting to do this design for a while and this week it all came together. I love having an idea and see it come to life so quickly! A true collaboration of our skills.
Made from cherry with mixed woods of varying height and thickness for each word. The frame has a Danish oil on it and each word block is stamped, sanded and painted.


Ready to move into your life!
20" x 28"

650.00

SOLD

~ Jon and Patricia Hecker

Black Rock Mountain- Mountain City GA.

For a little over a year my Fathers ashes sat closed in the small bag the funeral home gave us. Cremains they are called. Dad died on April 4, Easter Sunday 2010.

Friday evening near sunset, my family gathered on Black Rock Mountain in Georiga. It was on this mountain that my Fathers ashes were to be scattered. This was his last wish and we were prepared to see it carried out. The sky grew dark as sunset approached. The leaves on the trees twisted in the wind indicating rain was imminent. The view from this board walk was magnificent and one he would have loved. Perhaps he too had stood there. Most likely he had at some point. Before us lie a mountain vista layered in rolling valleys of various shades of blues and grays. We carefully opened the bag that held my Fathers ashes. His second wife's ashes were to be scattered with his. After 78 years of life, what remains is a small bag of dust. Almost resembling beach sand and shells but finer and lighter. I lightly touched the surface. My finger leaving an impression in the dust. He is not this dust. He is in my heart, but this is what is left of him on Earth.

First a toast. Shot glasses, tequila limes and salt came along for this final send off. My brother Ken and I took turns scattering the ashes and hearing them fall on the green foliage below. It sounded like rain. It was new. Spring gifts this mountain range with an array of deciduous trees, most of which had leaves. The recent tornado took a swipe at this old mountain, but didn't destroy this section of the park. Much like relationships, they weather change.
Our life here on Earth is where we leave our impressions,
our scars,
ourselves.
By the choices we make, the lives we touch and the love we give.

This last year has been a roller coaster of emotions. Some good days and some not so good days. The lives that have touched mine have left their fingerprints on my soul. For them I am forever grateful. They have lifted me through difficult times and held me from a distance as I healed. Healing, is an ongoing process, that I'm certain. When I went through this as a 15 year old with my Mothers death, I had just 15 years of reference. This time, 35 years later, with the last parent carries a completely different, longer perspective. More water under the proverbial bridge. More memories, more 'what if's'.
More.


Our lives are not what remains as dust. It's all the day to day small, seemingly insignificant things that make us who we are. We are not dust at the end. We are souls going their way leaving behind who we became.
We are who we make of ourselves with every breath. We are wind and light and memories and love.
We are the life of life and what we chose to make with that life is ours to chose.

Ashes to ashes - dust to dust.
Rest well Dad- you are home.

Love,
Your Pumpkin

Photos: Jon Hecker

Spring is in the Air-

TattooDreams Tour continues-- Dunwoody Arts Festival•Dunwoody, GA this weekend. New vases, story boxes and wall art!! This past week we put into motion our new vases. They're a fun new inclusion to our work and come adorned with handmade beads and tied around the top.
They cost $68.00 and hold water using the recycled water bottle tucked inside.
Great for gift-giving or a gift to yourself!!

This is just the beginning-- there's more to come!
The road calls and there's art to be sold!
Happy Spring everyone!

YOU STILL NEED ART

~Patricia

Georgia on My Mind

Heading to Dunwoody Georgia this weekend for the Dunwoody Arts Festival. This will be our first time there and with us will come new work! I love taking new work on the road to get the reaction of collectors and fellow artists. Georgia should be beautiful this time of year with trees and wildflowers in bloom.
Hoping to spend a day with my beloved pandas at Zoo Atlanta. Lun Lun has a new cub, Po and we plan to see him. Pandas bring me peace. Their quiet demeanor and slow, careful gestures align with their docile nature and graceful habitat.

While on this trip, my family will be scattering my Fathers' ashes in the mountains, per his request. It was a year ago he died on Easter and it is time to fulfill his last wishes. Having never done this, I look forward to returning Dad to the Earth and the mountains he so loved.
This is closure of the most natural kind.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

~Patricia