Everlasting impression Woolwich man wreathes nature’s bounty into art

Andy Pratt’s wreaths tend to cause quite a commotion. A woman driving through Winterport almost rear-ended the car in front of her as she craned her neck to get a better look at one in the window at Molly’s. In Damariscotta, a woman who missed the shipment to Brambles in early November is still upset about it. She’s already on the waiting list for next fall. And then there’s the woman from Wiscasset who was shocked when asked what attracted her to the wreath she bought about five years ago.

“Oh, what are you talking about?” Cordie Davis asked, looking as if she had just been asked if the sky was blue. “It was an art form. I have refused on many occasions to sell it.”

The wreaths are festive, but they’re not the kind that end up in the trash on New Year’s Day. Pratt, who lives in Woolwich, near Bath, makes wreaths that last all year, indoors or out. Rather than evergreens, he uses wispy twigs laden with winterberries, curvy bittersweet vines, rose hips, alder, witch hazel, serviceberry or birch to create lively, sculptural forms.

“They’re very architectural,” said Lisa

duHamel, who owns the gardening-gift store Brambles in Damariscotta. “It’s such a three-dimensional structure. Everyone falls in love with them for that reason.”

Pratt, 53, fell in love with wreath making more than 10 years ago. He had retired from the Navy and was landscaping for a nearby garden center when he saw someone fashioning a wreath from twigs. Pratt, who often roamed the roads near his home and camp to collect bittersweet vines, figured he could do it, too. And he was right. A friend who owned a shop in Boothbay said Pratt’s wreaths were good enough to sell, and soon after, he approached Sharon Mrozinski, who owns The Marston House antiques in Wiscasset.

“I made a few for her and she loved them,” Pratt said in early December, standing in his garage, which is filled with tidy stacks of branches sorted by variety. Dried flowers and reindeer moss hang from the rafters and an unfinished serviceberry wreath sits on a patio table that doubles as Pratt’s workbench. “She put one up, and everybody saw them and everybody liked them and it just mushroomed from there.”

One of the people who liked them was Belfast photographer Lynn Karlin, who recently published the book “Gardens, Maine Style” with Country Living Gardening editor Rebecca Sawyer-Fay.

“Lynn takes pictures of my porch as it changes with the seasons,” Mrozinski said. “She had taken that shot.”

The picture – a crown of winterberries set against a pair of weathered blue doors – takes up a full page in the book and has won Pratt a bit of fame in the gardening world in addition to the following he already has. And while he could sustain himself making wreaths full time, he has other priorities right now: his sons Tim and A.J., who both attend the University of Maine. So he works three 12-hour shifts as an operating-room nurse at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, picks up a few shifts at other hospitals in the area, and starts making wreaths when he gets home at 7 p.m.

“If you’ve got two kids in college, that’s kind of what you need to do,” Pratt said. “We’ll get through it.”

His wife, Madge, is an emergency-room nurse at Parkview Hospital in Brunswick and works part time at Maine Yankee. She’s grown accustomed to not seeing much of Andy when fall rolls around.

“We definitely don’t have a life at wreath time,” Madge said, laughing. “I can’t drag him anywhere. I just go on my way.”

In the kitchen and living room of the Pratts’ comfortable ranch-style home, evidence of Andy’s work is everywhere. On a stool at the counter, a stack of evergreen Christmas wreaths is ready to go. He doesn’t sell them, but he makes a few for friends and family each year. One of Andy’s “experiments,” a compact wheat wreath, hangs in the kitchen. And Madge’s favorite, the muted-red rose hip wreath, hangs in the living room. Outside, winterberry and twig wreaths decorate the garage and porch.

Inside, Madge is just glad nothing has broken this year – the plumbing is intact, the paint isn’t peeling and the wallpaper looks good – because Andy doesn’t have time to fix it.

“Nothing gets done till after the wreath season is over and I’m always the last to get my wreath,” Madge said.

This year, Madge wasn’t alone. The winterberry harvest was small and Pratt only had a few wreaths to go around. The shortage made the annual rush for Pratt’s wreaths that much stronger. He only makes about 200 wreaths a year, and winterberries are the most popular.

“Every time we have them they sell within two or three days,” said Rachael Anderson, who works at Molly’s boutique in Winterport. “We have people on a list for next year who weren’t able to get them, and they want their wreaths.”

While Pratt’s winterberries have an almost cultlike following (as wreaths go, anyway), people have already taken a shine to his latest creation, the tight, berry-laden rose hip wreath.

“I love the winterberry because I love the red, but with the rose hip you’ve got the color and they’ve got more depth,” Madge said. “Plus, they’re not messy inside.”

Pratt’s twig wreaths, which have the occasional bud or stamen, but no berries to speak of, have a following of their own. The simplicity of the wild, free-form pieces attracts people who normally wouldn’t think of putting a wreath in their homes.

“I sell every one I can get and I sell them year-round,” said Sharon Mrozinski’s husband, Paul, who owns the gourmet shop Treats in Wiscasset. “They’re beautiful. That’s what it is. They’re stylish. They’re big. They’re a statement. They’re robust.”

Andy Pratt’s wreaths are available at Molly’s in Winterport, Brambles in Damariscotta, and Treats and The Marston House in Wiscasset or by calling him directly at 882-9641. Because of the size and fragility of the materials, Pratt does not ship his wreaths by mail. Winterberry wreaths are no longer available this year.