Some of My Plaques
I wasn’t able to get very many examples due to the unexpected nature of my previous position being eliminated, but here are the ones I was able to get ahold of!
Frog and Toad
Arnold’s Daughter
One of the coolest projects I got to work on personally, as I loved these books growing up and still do! Adrianne was amazing to work with and I’m so pleased that we were able to honor her father’s legacy at his old apartment in New York.
Banjo Man Bob
Bob’s Son
This gentleman was such a character, it’s a shame I didn’t learn about him until after he had passed. Leo had the same spark and liveliness that I came to learn his father possessed. Bob designed pools for a living, even had a banjo shaped one in his own backyard. He opened a “pickin’ parlor” and was the Father of Blue Grass in his area. If you want to learn more about him, you can find info here!
Fitz’s Dads
The Best Boy
The two gentleman I worked with on this project were so incredibly kind. They live in Michigan, which has a “Trademark” plaque style used for their historical landmarks that I replicated for this design. I was even able to find the font used on official versions to use for this one! Fitz had a favorite spot in the park where he sat every time they came on a walk, the plaque rests there today in honor of the best boy.
Paula’s Son
Forever Footprints
An amazing and heartfelt project that I worked on with James over the course of a couple months. His mother’s footprints were put in the concrete outside the family shoe store in Weiser, Idaho when she was 3 years old. The shoe store has since been sold and now operates as an insurance office, but the footprints remain. For fear of breaking them, instead of relocating the concrete I was given a photo to work with along with the only physical copy of her picture shown in the bottom right. All of this was lovingly packaged and picked up by his sister after I sent him this photo.
Randy’s Daughter
The Caretaker
Kathy was such a sweetheart and shared so much about her wonderful father. He ran a retirement community with the utmost love and care, earning him a key to the city and the admiration of everyone who got to know him. The top portion is the logo for the community, the cross on the left is modeled off of the top of a chapel he built, and the prayer hands on the right are modeled off of a wood carving he did that’s still on the property. A caring and remarkable man, it was an honor to get to help memorialize him.
Peggy’s Husband (Ron)
Weiss and Wine
One of my earliest projects and one that still sticks with me. Ron had just lost his partner and had so many ideas about the best way to set up their joint headstone. After some back and forth, we landed on this layout! The stone portion itself is actually an antique wine basin used for stomping grapes, it’s around 300 years old and an antique they had picked out together before her passing. It’s the first project where I ever got to see the final result, and I’m so glad he loved the finished product.
A Park for an Angel
Case’s Mom
This was one of the most heartbreaking and stressful projects I ever worked on. Brooke was such a sweet woman going through something a mother should never have to. She did everything right for this project: Ordering well in time for production and delivery for the dedication, providing us with the specs for the bracket the plaque was going to be going on, and working with me on the design at top speeds. She handled it with grace, patience, and a strength I’ve rarely seen.
Then, disaster struck. The plaque arrived 5 days before the event and did not fit the bracket. If you look at the first photo, you’ll see in the outermost silver portion, 4 screws. Those were perfectly lined up with the specs we were originally provided. Unfortunately, she was given the wrong specs.
So, what do you do in a situation like this? Here’s what we did:
- Sent an overnight shipping label to get the plaque onsite
- Had her take measurements of the bracket and send us photos
- Designed 5 options for how we could add a border to make it fit
- Cut, sanded, powder coated, and assembled the entire piece in under 3 days
- Overnight shipped it back to her with the modifications
After a terrifying silence over the course of a few days, we finally heard back with an email that said “Thank you for everything” and a link to this article about the park dedication. I cried an unseemly amount out of relief and happiness that we were able to pull this off for Brooke and her family.
