Glass art with unique personal touch

Mother-daughter team create unique funerary art that makes a difference

By OLIVIA KOERNIG / Whitefish Pilot

Working alongside her husband, veterinarian Gregory Markellis, for 13 years, Linda Markellis was always moved when families lost beloved pets.

"I saw animals that had visited us since they were puppies and kittens reach the end of their lives," Markellis recalls. "We'd hold hands and listen to stories and cry and hug and want to do more."

Now, working with her daughter Krista Johnson, she is. The duo is helping people say good-bye to loved ones, helping them let go by giving them something to hold on to.

Over the Rainbow Memor-ials, based in Whitefish, creates handcrafted keepsake funerary art, a tradition which can be traced back to ancient Egypt. Johnson and Markellis' take on it involves combining ash, hair or feathers with glass in memorial keepsakes, some of which are wearable.

Before stumbling onto funerary art, the women had been selling their glass jewelry creations at boutiques all over the nation.

At one point, they even owned a store in Florida. Although they'd been successful, they found their niche at the behest of a friend.

The friend's dog, Ziggy, was supposed to serve as "flower girl" in the friend's upcoming wedding. When the dog passed on before the wedding took place, she commissioned Markellis and Johnson to use Ziggy's ashes to create something she could wear on the big day.

"We started messing around," Johnson said. "The problem is that ash wants to cool at a different rate than glass."

Bubbling and cracking during the cooling process was another hurdle to overcome. Eventually, they figured out a process to marry the ash and glass, creating ethereal whispers within the glass.

"The beauty of the pieces is they're reminders of passed loved ones," Johnson said. "It's the circle of love and life redirected."

After crafting that first bracelet, the women began receiving calls from more friends, then friends of friends and so on. Soon they realized they had a bona fide business opportunity thrust upon them.

"We thought, 'Maybe we should do this,'" Markellis said.

That was in 2006. Initially, most of their customers were seeking keepsakes made with their pets' remains. Today, the women estimate that 70 percent of their creations are from people.

"We get a lot of referrals from grief counselors," Johnson said. "It helps people find comfort in an uncontrollable situation."

Even with referrals from grief counselors and marketing collateral distributed to area veterinary clinics, the women still say the majority of their customers hear about their services through word-of-mouth. And word travels far.

The ladies average about 45 orders each week, recently filling their first overseas order.

The client, an international banker in Paris, wished to memorialize her dogs. Since she requested 14-karat gold for her bracelets, her creations are among the most expensive pieces they've made.

One unusual request came from a woman who had saved her father's red ringlets. Now elderly herself and with no living relatives, she feared that after her own passing, the treasured locks would be found and discarded. Instead, she called upon Johnson and Markellis to create something with the hair, believing that no one could toss out something so beautiful.

"Glass can last forever," Johnson said. "They've found pieces that are over 2,000 years old."

To help gain a sense of personality for the deceased, Markellis and Johnson request photos and offer their clients the opportunity to share stories.

When possible, the women receive clients at their studio. Following visits, the women often receive calls from people saying how relieved they felt to be able to talk about their loved ones.

"When given the opportunity, 98 percent of people want to talk. We hear these really touching stories," Markellis said. "I try to translate what they tell me about the personality and bring it out."

But not all their customers have left this life. Some orders are for people who give their own hair to create heirlooms for once they do pass on, preparing for the inevitable.

"In Western culture, the tendency is to push death away, to avoid it," Markellis said. "We're really lucky because we're working creatively and making a difference in people's lives."