Liz Hebbel likes to think of herself as a hunter and gatherer.
No, she doesn’t track down wild animals and berries on the outskirts of Concord. While it would be quite interesting to see her trudging through the woods on a daily basis, Hebbel isn’t constantly in search of her next meal – she can get that at the grocery store.
What Hebbel’s on the lookout for are second-hand items to add to her basement workshop that will one day help complete a piece of her whimsical recycled garden art.
Instead of woods and fields, Hebbel spends her time mostly scoping out thrift stores and consignment shops (and the occasional yard sale) trying to find the next great teapot, bowl, plate or vase. Some of them are ceramic, other pieces are glass, but all of them fit into her master plan.
“I have hundreds of parts in my basement,” Hebbel said. “I can’t walk out of a thrift store without dropping $20.”
Since she buys everything used, Hebbel just has to purchase stuff when she sees it and worry about the combinations later. She never knows what she’s going to find, and that’s part of the fun – and why she comes up with her designs after the fact and not before.
“I really try to have the final piece transcend its many parts,” Hebbel said. “I try to make each piece look like it was meant to be.”
Hebbel began her business, Happy Returns, in the summer of 2010 after making some chicken art for a friend at Christmas the previous year. That summer, after stocking up on her garden art creations that would surely brighten up your flower patch with bold colors (“I’m not afraid of color,” she said), Hebbel hosted a launch party at her 15 Pine St. home. She had no idea how many people would show up, if any, but was pleasantly surprised when hundreds strolled through her yard and about half of her inventory was bought.
“I had no clue if people would be interested,” Hebbel said. “I just started collecting stuff and making stuff.”
So she’s been doing it every summer since. This year, Hebbel will host a pair of open houses, one this weekend, which will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The other will be the weekend of July 18-20.
“I’m sort of doing an opening weekend and a closing weekend,” Hebbel said.
Hebbel’s yard, as well as a tent in her driveway, will be filled with bird feeders, bird baths, garden stakes, statuary, hose guides, solar lights and plant pedestals. You will even find some sweet flamingos that were once pink, but are now painted like tigers, zebras and maybe one of your other favorite striped animals. Hebbel loves to use cats and dogs for her work, and the best part is that most of the items are priced less than $100. And just think, if you make a purchase for that patch of soil in your yard that grows things, you’ll have a Hebbel original, as well as a recycled green T-shirt that comes with each purchase. Really, how many vegetable and sunflower teapot garden statues do you think are out there?
“When I did the chicken art I did not know what I was getting into,” Hebbel said.
Last year, Hebbel hosted four open houses, but decided to cut it in half this year while adding a Friday to each weekend for the first time. Three-day weekends for everyone! And if you go to both, you are sure to see different things, as Hebbel expects to be quite busy over the month between.
“I only use second-hand parts,” Hebbel said. “And in order to do this and make it look like the parts go together you have to have enough choices. That’s why I accumulate so many parts.”
It’s a process to create her work. It all starts with a vision and the pieces to make it happen. There’s the design part, the careful drilling and plenty of glue to make it all stick together.
“I can spend a few hours in my basement and come up with no designs or I can spend a couple hours and come up with a few designs,” Hebbel said.
For more info on Happy Returns and this weekend’s open house, visit happyreturns.biz.
