Bend artist Layla Coats collects twigs and rocks on her walks with her dog all around the Pacific Northwest. When she brings them home, the twigs become tiny perches and the rocks fit together as mini stone veneers. Married to a bridge builder who is always on the move, she travels around collecting beautiful natural objects for her Winestone Birdhouses, from naturally tumbled agates at the Oregon Coast to fool’s gold in Leavenworth, Wash. Coats collects lava rock and obsidian right in her hometown of Bend. The oenophiles among us will appreciate the wine corks that lend a quirky theme to her birdhouses.
“I have found that I can use so many different things, such as empty bullet shell casings, beer bottle caps — the men seem to favor these styles — mini baby pinecones, etc.,” Coats says. Not just pretty designs, the birdhouses are sealed to be fully weather resistant, so they are actually usable in our Pacific Northwest gardens.
“My dad, an avid bird lover, raised me alone,” she says. “Every Father’s Day I give him an original artwork by me. [That’s how] my very first mosaic birdhouse came about.”
E.H. $35-$145; etsy.com/shop/winestonebirdhouses
