Page 36 - Flathead Beacon // 5.11.16

EVENTS 38 MOVIE REVIEWS 39 SIDE DISH 42 FACES & PLACES 43 PAWS & CLAWS 44 Arts&Entertainment
MEMORIALIZING
Krista Johnson, founder of Over The Rainbow Memorials.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Loved Ones
with ART
Krista Johnson creates glass jewelry and pieces using ashes from human and animal cremation
BY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
Walking into Krista Johnson’s home is like wandering into an art gallery of warm, intriguing glass pieces, as color- ful and comforting as a spring garden of wild owers.
The light xture in the entryway is a swirling and bubbled piece created by a protégé of glass master Dale Chihuly, and the xture over the dining table is a lovely recreation of cattail owers. The walls are bright colors, and windows all over lter in easy spring light.
These decorations are to be expected of an artist who used to run a gallery in Boca Raton, Florida, before moving back to her home in the Flathead Valley, but these incredible pieces are only noticed in a secondary way, once the real draw here is fully examined.
The true centerpiece, where all the energy of this colorful house seems to sit, is the glass-top table in the living room, which showcases dozens of shiny baubles, from necklace pendants to rings.
Each includes a unique piece of glass with rivulets of color splashing here and there in the light. But each piece also includes a thin, white-silvery line or pool, containing the cremains – the ashes that
result from cremation – of a person or animal.
Johnson owns and operates Over the Rainbow Memorials, which o ers cus- tom jewelry and keepsakes that incorpo- rate ashes as a way to celebrate and honor those who have been loved and lost.
“This is so much more than a piece of jewelry,” Johnson said.
A glassworker for 15 years, Johnson stumbled into the business thanks in part to the traits that serve her well now: com- passion, empathy, and the urge to com- fort. It started more than 10 years ago, when a friend’s dog died. The four-legged family member was supposed to be in the friend’s wedding, and Johnson used some of the ashes in a piece of jewelry for her.
“We did it like that, just for ourselves,” she said.
After doing the same for other friends, Johnson realized there were many people out there wanting such memorials. Over the Rainbow started, and was featured in
a magazine put out by Costco, shared with millions of customers.
Business boomed, and Johnson began working with families who lost human relatives more than those who wanted to memorialize pets.
It’s not hard to imagine Johnson, with her e usive personality and need to care for those who come to her house – “I can’t help myself,” she said, bringing water to a pair of visitors who hadn’t requested it – sitting here with the people and fami- lies who come to her with stories of their loved ones.
She lets them talk as long as they want; some consultations last hours. This is all part of it, she said.
“I think it’s really important that we talk about these things,” Johnson said. “That’s very healing, to think about the next step. Every day, I cry and I laugh.”
For the process, Johnson needs about a teaspoon of the ashes. That can cre- ate many pieces, she said, and allows the
family to hold on to some of the ashes and feel comfortable with spreading the rest elsewhere.
“Having something tangible to hold onto gives us the opportunity to talk about them when they’re gone,” Johnson said.
These memorial pieces can be worn daily, and the wearer is under no obli- gation to tell other people about them. That’s a nice aspect about it, Johnson said, because it gives the wearer that degree of comfort, to share with whom they choose.
Lying against her sternum is a pen- dant of black and green glass in the sim- ple shape of a heart, and it contains the ashes of her black Lab Deacon, who she got as a puppy and lived with until he was 15. Just mentioning him brings out sto- ries of hikes and swimming, and a smile to Johnson’s face.
Johnson can create nearly any sort of memorial piece – she’s not limited to
ONE-STOP SHOPPING
FOR YOUR
DRYWALL PROJECT
Friendly, Prompt, Knowledgable Service
Let us stock the job or available for drive-thru loading
“Locally owned since 1988.”
160 8TH AVE. WN • KALISPELL • 752-2644 WWW.NW-DRYWALL.COM
Quality speaks
for itself • Vegetables • Herbs
• Flowers • Baskets
160 8TH AVE. WN • KA WWW.NW-DR
Hanging baskets, Tomato planters for your porch.
GUNDY GARDENS
& Greenhouse
Hours: 10-5 Tue•sday through Sunday LI4 miles north on Columbia Falls stage off Hwy 35
S
S
P
E
L
L
7
5
2
-
2
6
4
4
ee
us a
tK
alis
pell Famers
Ma
YWALL.COM
406-892-1989, 250-8642
rke
te
ve
ry
Sat
urd
ay
36
MAY 11, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM