CLEARLY ART

MAT-SU — Lots of Alaska bugs and flowers, plenty of kitchen glassware and one yellow Labrador retriever seem like an unlikely formula for launching a new enterprise, but a Big Lake woman’s functional art business is blooming.

Rita Gaffey has a dog in her kitchen workshop; her line of glasswear brings flower gardens into the kitchens of her customers. And not just their kitchens.

Yankee’s Kitchen features handpainted vases, wine glasses, bottles and more. Gaffey said she named her Big Lake business after her and her husband, Richard’s, yellow lab.

“He believes the kitchen is his domain but he kindly allows me to work there,” she says.

It all started nearly five years ago, not because of Yankee, but because of the Gaffeys’ granddaughter, Bailey, who is 12.

Her granddaughter’s visit prompted Gaffey to come up with a craft project for the 8-year-old — dressing up a 5-gallon bucket in which she’d planted a tomato. Once Gaffey started dressing up flower pots and buckets with flower, insect and mountain motifs, she couldn’t stop. She had so many decorated containers, she took them to a local garden center to see if they’d sell them there. They sold out in two hours, and Yankee’s Kitchen was begun.

She expanded into glassware, like cruets, butter dishes, boudoir glass and wine glasses, and her business grew. Her items are available in shops in the Valley, Anchorage, Seward and Homer, and she sells at the Palmer Friday Fling, local craft shows and occasionally from her home.

The succeess took Gaffey, a self-taught artist, offguard.

“It’s always a surprise when people buy it,” she said.

She takes her inspiration from nature, but it doesn’t limit her. She and Richard, a surveyor, take cameras with them on their outdoor adventures, capturing images of Alaska’s delicate flowers and insect life. She also uses Alaska books for inspiration, as well as pictures of flowers not native to Alaska.

“Sometimes it looks like something that would be native to Alaska,” Gaffey said. “Sometimes, some things are fantasy.”

Iris and forget-me-nots are popular embellishments. “I do a great deal of fireweed,” she said.

But perhaps the things her customers don’t necessarily notice first are really the hallmark of her work.

“I don’t do anything without bugs,” she said.

Ladybugs, bees, butterflies, dragonflies and even mosquitos show up on every piece she does.

“I had someone who wanted me to do something without bugs,” Gaffey recalled. “I tried. I stared at it and stared at it — and I put bugs on it.”

She does custom pieces — everything from special motifs to pets to brides and grooms to cartoon characters.

She often surprises herself.

“I didn’t know I could even do this,” she said. “I didn’t realize I could see something and kind of duplicate it.”

She loves it. She pops in an audio book and lets inspiration guide her. Sometimes the medium is glass, sometimes it is wood, metal or ceramic. And when inspiration isn’t there, she’s patient. She said someone gave her a piece of antler to paint; so far she’s not come up wth the right motif.

“One of these days I’ll look at it and say, ‘A-ha,’” Gaffey said.

Gaffey said the keys to her success are loving what she does and turning out a good product. Each of her pieces is unique.

“It sells itself,” Gaffey said.

Gaffey’s art is available locally at Talkeetna Gifts & Collectibles, Nonessentials, Town Square Art Gallery and Donna’s Corner. Gaffey’s website is yankeeskitchen.com, or call 232-3470.