Red Tree Curiosities’ owner Elizabeth Heckler-Cambridge stands beside her painting, “The Red Tree”, her gallery’s namesake. Photo: Pat Stinson
This story originally appeared in print with the title, “A tree grows in Baldwin: a gift for the curious.”
By Pat Stinson
The curiosities you’ll find in Elizabeth Heckler-Cambridge’s gallery in Baldwin aren’t the creaky, cobwebby stuff of mystery novels. Red Tree Curiosities is a little shop of wonders, filled with a carefully curated collection of fine local art, crafts and antiques.
In its own building next to the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, Red Tree attracts visitors with its fanciful logo and picture windows offering a rotating preview of work from 40 makers hailing from Baldwin, Idlewild, Ludington, Bitely and Big Rapids.
Some have won awards, had their work appear on the cover of magazines or been selected for artist residencies at Michigan parks such as Isle Royale, Sleeping Bear Dunes and Porcupine Mountains.
“They’re very prolific, making things I’d never think of,” Heckler said of her gallery’s artists.
When you spend time to fully appreciate the gallery’s displays, you’ll make joyous discoveries of fine art; jewelry; apparel; home goods; handmade cards, maps, magnets and soaps; and hand crafts, such as woodworking, metalworking, knitting and crocheting. This place is a gift-giver’s dream and is open all year.
Her husband Scott Cambridge offers “support, construction and love.” Toys he’s made for the gallery include checkerboards and wooden fighter jets.
A corner of the store devoted to antiques is known as Booth 66, and Heckler plans to set up a kids’ corner with puzzles, aprons, books and more.
For the curious, the gallery’s name is based on Heckler’s first-ever painting, “The Red Tree”.
“I’m a tree nut,” she said matter-of-factly.
Heckler was raised in Indiana and moved to the Baldwin area in 2012. Her father illustrated children’s books and her mother was a fashion designer. She said she has been drawing and coloring since she could hold a pencil. She received her Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture but ultimately decided not to pursue a career in the field.
A little later in life, in her 30s, she attended the John Herron School of Art at Indiana University, where she earned her BFA. While there, she painted the gallery’s namesake.
“I circled all around the art world,” she said, listing her jobs as a picture-framer and then as a sign-maker for a corporate-level grocery store.
Today, her paintings and colored-pencil drawings are included in the displays. The largest of these is a “doodle” that extends almost the length of the south wall and is covered with uplifting messages.
“I’m just tired of negative thoughts,” she explained, “and I’m gonna put out positive thoughts … positive messages.”
She said she began drawing at one end, letting her hand wander, and wouldn’t allow herself to erase. (She told me she learned “not everything is precious” while making signs at the grocery store.)
In her paintings, she likes to include old doors and windows and things a viewer can’t see into. Her themes include “fighting expansion” and “far-reaching consequences.”
“My titles say more than my pictures to some people,” she added.
Heckler-Cambridge said she will host private painting parties and has held parties at Debbie’s Sportsmen Bar and the Baldwin Bowling Center. She accepts commissions for personalized doodles and once even hand-painted wildflowers on a propane tank.
Given a preference, she said she would like to spend all her time doodling, though you just may find her taking photographs or driving on a two-track in her spare time.
Summer hours at Red Tree Curiosities are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday. For more information, visit https://redtreeart.com, and follow the gallery on Facebook @fineartnfunstuff and on Instagram @elizabethhecklerart.
