Making a colorful memory

Artists use their talents to give peace of mind

Mother/daughter team Linda Markellis and Krista Johnson of Whitefish made an art and a business of transforming tears of grief into smiles.

Using multiple layers of colored glass, the artists create jewelry as well as art pieces enshrining a sprinkle of ash cremains from a loved one or pet.

Johnson searched for words to describe customers' emotions when handed their memorials fashioned of colors to reflect the departed's personality.

"People are just glowing when they get them," she said.

No one is more surprised than Markellis and Johnson to find themselves working with ash cremains as a medium. Before founding Over the Rainbow Memorials, the two created and sold their own line of fine jewelry through art galleries across the country.

Their new endeavor has expanded to a similar reach.

"We have customers in Florida, Arizona, California, New York, Washington - everywhere," Johnson said.

She and her mother got started about a year and a half ago, initially orienting their creations toward pets. Devout animal lovers, the two know too well the grief of losing a four-legged friend.

Markellis worked for years at her husband Greg Markellis' veterinarian clinic. Her eyes still mist over when remembering owners saying goodbye to beloved dogs and cats that had been patients at the clinic for years.

She wanted to offer some comfort beyond words.

"I always felt at a loss - I wanted to do something more," Markellis said.

The answer came when a veterinarian friend lost her beloved Ziggy, a rescued border collie/ heeler mix. It was all the more tragic because she was about to get married when her dog died.

"Her dream had been to have Ziggy as her flower girl," Markellis said.

The bride-to-be, knowing of their jewelry work, asked if Johnson and Markellis could mix Ziggy's ashes into glass beads that she could wear on her wedding day. They decided to give it a try.

Markellis recalled a grueling process of trial and error to overcome a chemical reaction between ash and glass that creates carbon dioxide bubbles. They also fought a cracking problem caused by the two materials cooling at different rates.

"We only had a little bit of Ziggy so we started working with fire-pit ash," Markellis said.

The two also used ashes from their own departed dog Maggie to finally arrive at their proprietary methods. As a side benefit, they gained memorials to Maggie in their studio which they can enjoy and show clients.

It suits the dog's spirit, according to Markellis.

"Maggie always wanted to hang around with us and be pretty much a part of everything," she said with a smile.

And Ziggy didn't miss the wedding either. The vet's faithful old friend went down the aisle on her owner's arm as subtle silver swirls in a glass bead bracelet.

Johnson and Markellis were inspired to make a sun catcher as well for their friend. The veterinarian reported back that Ziggy flashes rainbows of color around her kitchen as she drinks her coffee at sunrise each day.

From this happy beginning, the two artists developed more memorials, including heart and oval pendants, glass pyramids and treasure boxes holding several stones. They came up with their business name from a touching poem about departed pets called "The Rainbow Bridge."

"Both Mom and I said it together - Over the Rainbow Memorials," Johnson said.

They printed a brochure and developed a Web site at www.otrmemorials.com to market their unique service. As it turned out, most of their customers learn about them by word-of-mouth or after seeing one of their creations.

"Something about it speaks to people," Johnson said.

These memorials seem to help the bereaved move on to a place best described by Markellis' favorite quote from Dr. Seuss - "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

From grief counselors, the two artists learned that people need to journey through all the phases of dealing with death to reach a kind of serene acceptance.

"People can't leave it as a whole," Markellis said.

To their surprise, the demand for memorials to people has outpaced pets. In the last few months, those pieces accounted for about 70 percent of their work.

Each customer's poignant story of loss, whether pet or human, remains etched on their hearts.

Markellis recalled their very first client whose husband and dog died together in an auto accident. Another was a mom having a difficult time after losing her son suddenly to an undiagnosed medical condition.

"She had sun catchers made for everyone who had loved him," Markellis said. "That was her nurturing part as a mom."

Both remember vividly another woman who traveled from Missoula with her husband to meet with them. Their discussion of her sister's life and death became a cathartic event.

They received an e-mail from her the next day.

"When she got home, she felt totally drained but she got the best night's sleep ever," Markellis said with a smile. "She felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders."

Some people have brought in ash cremains from people or pets who died more than a decade ago.

One man had a piece made to memorialize his mother who died more than 20 years ago. Another client ordered memorials for her husband's two hunting dogs that he still missed 11 years after their passing.

The artists don't need ashes to make memorials. They create pieces just from people's descriptions or they incorporate other mementos such as hair or feathers which turn to ash during the heating process.

Death isn't required either. Some people order pieces made from the hair of living pets or people combined with their own for a keepsake.

Both Johnson and Markellis beam as they relate the joy their work brings to people. They said that they have never had a disgruntled customer.

"It makes my heart swell," Johnson said. "It makes you feel like you're a good part of the process."

Prices run about $80 for a touchstone, $120 for a medium sun catcher, $140 for a pendant and $170 for a pyramid. Heart pendants and sun catchers remain the top choice of most people.

Johnson makes the pendants using a torch which heats the glass rods to 1,800 degrees. Guided by the client's desires, she heats up colored rods, folds in the ashes and shapes it into a heart.

For medallions, Markellis layers glass pieces together with ash, then fuses the composition in a kiln. After a precise cooling process, she opens the kiln to reveal a unique creation.

"In the morning I pour my coffee and run to the kiln," she said with a laugh.

It's much the same excitement when clients receive their glass art. The mother and daughter smiled, remembering a mill worker who wrote about how excited he was to open the package to his personal medallion enshrining a tiny piece of his mother.

Markellis and Johnson understand perfectly as each wears a pendant of a beloved pet around their neck.

"They're gone but they're still here," Markellis said, gently stroking her necklace. "When you touch this, you know it even more."

Over the Rainbow Memorials may be reached at 755-5403 or online at www.otrmemorials.com

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com