KEEPIN' IT REAL

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS (TREES)

Timmmmberrrr! This year we harvested our Christmas Tree from our property. The new post-fire Loblolly Pines are the perfect size...let's celebrate! #keepingitreal #smellsfresh #merrychristmas #locallysourced #christmastree #hihohiho #chopchop #griswolds #pinetree #bastropfire #playbastropco #newlife #yule

A photo posted by YURNSbyMorzArt (@morzart) on Dec 21, 2015 at 9:23am PST

...And now we await the squeals of delight!
Wishing you all a wonderful and magical Christmas morning!

R.I.P. Framing Nailer

 YOUR SERVICE IS APPRECIATED

It was after the fire in 2011 when we first met at the pawn shop.
You started your life in a foreign factory, and were sold thru a cheap retailer. I had no idea who owned you prior to our meeting, or how you were treated before you were hocked, but for 60 bucks I was willing to take a chance on you.
You had no idea what I was about to get you involved in, but I was honestly naive at the time. You and I, we had a good run.  I must say, you well exceeded my $60 worth of expectations from a low quality pneumatic tool with oddball nail requirements.
Oh sure, you're an oddball, but so am I...you aren't fancy or expensive, and neither am I....that's why we made a good team. How many times I needed you to deliver that one nail to set a heavy board...knees knocking on shaky ladders, dangling from the rafters, and you came through for me time and time again.
And well, I'm sorry for all those times I cussed at you, it wasn't your fault. It was me. I know you were doing the best you could under the circumstances. It sure was a crazy time for us all.
Oh and remember how I forced you to shoot the wrong degree nails for so long...haha, that was funny, but dude, you did it! Way to go!... And also that time when I found you those two boxes of the right nails on clearance for $10 each?...4000 nails! that was amazing! Ah, the good times.
Of course, there were times you needed some TLC and redneck modifications to keep trudging along...but you did and I thank you. I thank you for the 15,000+ nails you shot to build my home and workshop. We were strong, we were brave, and we limped along together through it all, but sadly I am no longer able to resuscitate you.
Now with your passing,  I feel as though I've lost a sidekick and valuable team member. I regret I never gave you a cool name like, "Trigger". And will see to it that you have a proper burial.
I say too soon your demise, old friend, for I still have 2000 of those oddball nails that will never know the sweet touch of your internal piston.
Goodbye, nail gun, our family thanks you for your valiant service.

ON THIS 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

WE ARE A MIXED BAG

 

Today we remember the last time we saw our little green house in the woods. I snapped these photos as we evacuated, not knowing our fate as the fiery beast closed in around us.
At the time, it was the greatest loss we'd suffered in our lives. Since that day, we've had depressing lows and exhilarating highs. We've had our failures and have accomplished things we wouldn't have imagined prior. Life forced us to dream up new dreams and fight for something greater than the pile of ashes and hundreds of dead trees we were left with. On this 4 year anniversary, we are a mixed bag of feelings....proud that we've toughed out this unconventional path we chose, but discouraged that have not completely "recovered" yet.

CAN WE GET AN 'AMEN'

AND 'HALLEUJAH' ?!

The fire made us tough. The logging/mill work made us tough. The construction made us tough. And, two Texas summers with no insulation in our living area made us tougher....but, HOT no more- pink salvation has arrived.

OUR CASE NEEDS A NEW SPACE

  YURN'ING FOR A NEW WORKSHOP

In order to move forward with our art endeavors, we were in major need of replacing our workshop, and moving our supplies/equipment out of the living room.  We decided to reuse the existing concrete slab where our old shop stood.

 

After working around some great spring rain, we completed the shell and electrical, and moved our YURNS supplies inside today! This is a exciting step towards progress with the business, and healing for our creative souls to have a new space to work!

THE FIRE TOOK OUR FOREST VIEW

...BUT GAVE US BIGGER TEXAS SKIES.

 

Sunsets After Spring Thunderstorms - Our View Out in the Sticks 

FOCUS ON A BRIGHTER FUTURE

NEW CAREER GOALS TO PUSH US FORWARD

In the time since the fire, our primary focus has been recovering a place to call "home" the best way we could, while trying to stay true to a vision of what it could be. A desire to be financially free from a mortgage has us building this home slowly, through bartering and in cash.  Changes in career, financial constraints along with the passion to utilize the trees has us taking a seemingly long route to get where we want to be. 

It has been almost a year since we moved into the house and there are still many unfinished projects that we need to complete to make it a more comfortable living space- primarily insulation. Even with all of it's unfinished state, we love it, and love that we have made it this far in accomplishing our rebuilding goals.

The choices we have made along this journey continue to challenge us in new ways for new purposes, and have ultimately led us to a new artistic endeavor doing the work we love, clay sculpture- and for now, right up in the middle of our unfinished home. This shift in focus to new career goals will hopefully propel us financially to complete our home sooner rather than later.

After the fire Rob quit his career in the medical field, and for two years while working on our home, he worked at the local sawmill that has assisted us in processing the wood.  While there, we helped our sawyer friend, develop Star of Texas Casket Company. This experience and exposure to the funeral industry gave us insight into a changing industry where consumers attitudes about life and death are changing, and traditional customs are evolving; cremation services are set to cater to the modern family, their financial concerns, environmental concerns and their mobility away from family birthplaces.

Rebecca Ann

By the end of February 2014, we had completed enough of our new home to move into it....two weeks later, our joy turned to sadness and loss again with the passing of Rob's mother on March 10th. The family had a small private gathering and a couple weeks later a small package arrived by post containing her cremains. Rob's mom, Beckie, had a great artistic influence on him growing up and her talents fueled his love for creativity.

He spent years as a child helping his parents and grandmother in their family-owned gifts and ceramics shop in Houston. As an adult, Rob found naturally found his artistic niche in clay sculpture. Faced with needing a proper memorial for his mother, Rob knew that he must sculpt for her a unique urn that would reflect her passions and personality- a most fitting memorial for her.

The need to produce this tribute for mom had us reflecting on a figurative ceramic urn we created in 2006 for a friend. A Vietnam Veteran Marine and avid fisherman with a big personality, we created for his widow a wall-mounted big mouth bass fish. To this day it hangs at her country home and she finds great comfort in it- From her experience, we knew that our art served well in this function and it touched us greatly to honor his spirit with our craft.

The collective experiences of industry exposure and personal loss had us looking further into the urn market to see if our ideas for cremation vessels were available. What we found is a market that is saturated with imported products that lack artisan charm, personality or essence of character. Of the thousands of products online, we see a gap in finding cremation vessels which have a figurative form and style in function...namely breaking out of the traditional vase/box form. It can be challenging to find a cremation vessel for an exceptional individual whose memory just does not resonate with a solemn vase or box on the shelf. Our goal with YURNS by MorzArt is to create memorials that are statuesque in finish, and possess a unique, unpretentious nature...urns that are honest in form, but discreet in function. In other words, urns that don't look like urns and have a down-to-earth quality. 

For more information please visit our gallery at: www.awesomeurns.com and follow us on Facebook.

Our Etsy Shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/MorzArt