Nicole O’Brien knows how difficult it is for veterans to make the transition from military to civilian life. So, when she opened a retail store for her craft business, which repurposes old license plates into home decor, she included a boutique that would feature the work of veterans and their spouses.
Operation Made – with artwork made by veterans and veteran families – has become an economic and social lifeline for many of its artisans. The retail store on Toll Gate Road in Warwick, which opened in 2018, now includes the work of more than 60 veterans or their spouses.
The art is also sold online, which became vitally important in the pandemic. Some of the art O’Brien buys and then sells. Other artists are using the consignment method, where they take home a percentage of the sale.
O’Brien, who is the spouse of an Army veteran, moved eight times before her husband, Steve, retired from military service. She started her own craft business, Unique Pl8tz, when they were stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
Her plate decor business started as more than just a business. Her husband was traveling 288 days out of the year when they lived in Japan, and they had young children. “It gave me one thing that I could actually control in my life,” O’Brien said. “I needed a direction. It was an outlet for me as a spouse.”
It also connected her to a network of military spouses and veterans who were using their art as a therapy, as well as a side business. So when she opened her retail store, she contacted people in her extended network.
‘I’m doing this to help me cope, and for people to love it ... it’s humbling.’
JAZMINE JACKSON, Army National Guard veteran and Cranston native
Operation Made includes the work of veterans from all service branches. The items for sale range from $2 handmade hair ties to $150 three-string guitars created from cigar boxes.
Many of the veterans who sell their work through Operation Made are combat veterans and many of them have post-traumatic stress disorder, O’Brien said. For some veterans, making their art is therapeutic and allows them to focus on something tangible, she said.
“It makes your mind focus on something other than the thoughts in your head,” O’Brien said. “You have a specific task, a temporary release of all of the noise in your head.”
The retail business had to close during the height of the pandemic last spring, but she adapted and offered curbside pickup during the height of the government-required restrictions on visitors. One activity inspired by the pandemic restrictions – a once-a-month “meet the artists” event in the parking lot – has proven to be a hit among the public and the artists.
And she started selling the items on Facebook Live as a continuing event.
Many of the veterans have found their participation has helped them financially, as well as artistically.
Jazmine Jackson, an Army National Guard veteran from Cranston, is selling her handmade wooden flower arrangements through Operation Made. Jackson, now living in North Carolina, said her Cranston-based mother heard about it and encouraged her.
Now her hand-painted flower arrangements, which are made from a lightweight, pliable wood called sola, are among the hottest finds at Operation Made.
Jackson also makes stainless steel travel cups that are embellished with decorations.
Her flowers have been a source of unexpected income for her. But they’ve also provided some solace for Jackson, who was deployed to Afghanistan and Guantanamo in Cuba and has PTSD.
“Before COVID, I would go outside and hike and be out in nature,” Jackson said. “To help my PTSD, I needed another outlet.”
She had never been much of a crafter before January when she stumbled upon the idea of making floral arrangements while surfing the web. She saw the sola wood flowers, using a wood made from the root of the tapioca plant, and started ordering them. She hand-paints them and bends them to her desired shape using glycerin.
Recently, her work has expanded to include making dogs from the material, to match dog photos that people are sending her with their orders. Her recent work includes two white poodles, their faces popping out from a bouquet.
“It’s humbling,” she said. “I’m doing this to help me cope, and for people to love it and request more and different things, it’s humbling.”
Veteran Lenny Doeg is selling his hand-forged ironwork in the marketplace.
Doeg, of Coventry, served nine years in the Army before his discharge in 1991. A few years ago, following heart surgery, he was looking for a new activity that would serve as a hobby. He taught himself to weld.
Soon he was researching and learning about the craft of blacksmithing.
After purchasing an anvil and an oven, he converted his two-car garage into a blacksmith shop.
His work, sold through his business name Redneck Iron, includes hand-forged knives, decorative lawn art and delicately curved trivets for the tabletop fashioned into turtle and heart shapes.
Most of his work is priced at $50 or under. A hand-shaped turning fork for the grill, a former wrench, is among the items that he repurposed.
Most of his iron is donated by friends or is from items he picks up at yard sales and then reshapes and repurposes.
“It’s been a great partnership,” he said of his work with Operation Made. “I make a little bit to cover my costs and pay Nicole. I just really enjoy doing it. I don’t want it to be a full-time job. I do this as a hobby. And when I get tired, I just stop.”
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
