About Heirloomery

About Debbie Being born a military brat certainly makes a unique childhood. But we thought everyone lived like we did. Everyone we knew did! We got a world education. We learned to handle social situations early when you have to change schools three times in a school year! We also never gave a single thought to the fact that everyone we knew were different colors, religions, and from all different socio-economic backgrounds. They were just our friends. We learned to be kind to those less fortunate than us by always giving money or food, whatever little we had, to the hobo who knocked on our door, or making a cookies for the wealthy, but sad, lonely neighbor lady across the road. That childhood has flavored every interaction I have today. I am grateful that my parents broke every media stereotype by being poor southern country kids who weren't prejudiced who raised us without prejudice and to choose to like or dislike each person on their own merits. What a gift! Music, poetry, and painting were my passions during my teen years. Our entire extended family always played guitars and pianos and all made pretty art. Art was simply a part of our lives. I met and married Steve when he was at UT Knoxville. Had an early career in business, and was then blessed with my best gift,an incredible daughter, Elizabeth, whom I am proud to call my best friend. After very rich years teaching and raising my family I was ready for a new chapter... Enter Heirloomery. Several events in my life influenced what I wanted for Heirloomery to be. As an artist I make beauty, but beauty wasn't enough. Each art piece had to have personal meaning for the owner. When I was seventeen, our house burned, and we lost almost all pictures and momentos from our past. That left a gaping hole in my history that can never be replaced. Then in 2004, my baby brother, Boyd, died suddenly at the age of 30 years old. There is a song by Band Perry has has the line..."the sharp knife of a short life." That line says it all. To say that his passing changed us all forever is an understatement. The harsh reality of what "the end" really means became a center of our reality. As I looked for pictures of Boyd to put out as memory makers, I realized that I had so few really good pictures. And not nearly enough of him with all We had been so busy living, that we forgot to stop and record more of it along the way. With the culmination of all those things, the totality of those events and my experience as an artist made keenly aware of what I wanted for Heirloomery to be...We each have our story and I want each person chooses to wear an Heirloomery custom piece to celebrate their personal fascinating life story. It is my hope that I can make a difference in others lives by giving each person a piece of meaningful art that they want to pass on to their heirs. About Elizabeth Oh my what a set of parents I have! Mom is sooo right brained and artistic and Dad is left brained and logical. So where did that leave me as a child? Pretty doggone happy! They both believed that a child should be given complete respect and allowed to choose how to live their life. They allowed me to home educate so that I could have more freedom to pursue my interests and passions. I used great books, travel and experience as my biggest tools for learning. Art was always around me and I had an incredible art teacher. When I found gymnastics, I had found my passion! Homeschooling also gave me the flexibility to work my education around the long hours that high level gymnastics requires. Life is always such a grand teacher! I spent every minute I could being a "gym rat" and loved every sweaty, exciting minute. I continued to do many other activities, but the one constant thread throughout my young life is gymnastics. Through my experience in gymnastics I learned to work for things I wanted. I always wanted to be the best and I learned that the thrill of competition was in my DNA! Mom says I was competitive even as a small child :) Art for me has always been therapy. Art for me took many paths...writing poetry, watercolor, or charcoal drawings, each had its purpose. My best friend was my older brother (technically he was my Uncle, my Mom's baby brother), but non'technically he was my brother. Boyd was my best friend and I had always had him to depend on. When I was fifteen he died suddenly. I was devastasted. It took me a long time to heal the deep wounds from the pain. But time has moved on and I see how I am now the person I am in large part because of the experience of losing someone so dear, so early. I don't take things or time for granted. I am also very selective as to how I spend this one life that I have. I spent one year in "normal" college so I could see if I liked the experience, and I made some great friends and lasting memories, but ultimately decided to finish my degree by distance learning so I can have more control over when I study and can work it around all the other loves in my life. Time is my precious jewel and I spend it with people I love and doing the things I love whenever possible. One of my passions now is graphic art...I guess finding that was inevitable as I am a combo of Mama right brain and Daddy left brain so i see this as a melding of the two :) Photography also became sooo important to me because I want to make sure that from this point on in life that I have plenty of keepsakes of the people and animals that i love so I never have too few again. When Mom talked to me about the vision of Heirloomery, I jumped in with both feet. Our ideas are so synergistic. We each have such a different skill set. It has been a joy. A lot of hard work to get it just the way we want. But an incredible blessing. Excellence, beauty, and truly personal. We both want that for our Heirloomery clients. We both also want the entire business to be ecology minded and human centered. Getting to see people be happy about finding a way to share "their story" through our art pieces is very satisfying. I count myself blessed to be able to take the road less traveled and be comfortable in my own skin and I am enjoying the journey as life presents itself.

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