Local Birdhouse Artist Will Display Work at Art & Wine Festival

Can birdhouses make people feel better? Birdhouse maker Brian Iles believes they can.

Iles, a 65-year-old Ben Lomond resident, has made it his goal to make people feel better by focusing on cheering them up with his unique birdhouses, some of which will be exhibited and for sale at the Scotts Valley Art and Wine Festival.

Iles’s custom birdhouses are all one of kind and made from all sorts of original objects that he purchases from flea markets and junkyard shops. His creations have included everything from a birdhouse that features the statue of a Buddha, to one that was made out of an old cowboy boot with a spur.

After retiring four years ago, Iles began to think hard about what it was that he would do in the new chapter of his life.

“He wasn’t doing anything, I told him that he had to come up with a hobby,” said Tim Pfister, 54, Iles best friend of 15 years and a flower arranger in Ben Lomond.

Iles knew that he wanted to do something as rewarding as his former job, which involved teaching and helping kids with disabilities. The answer finally came to him in a dream.

“One night I went to bed and I thought, ‘What am I going to do for the rest of my life?’” Iles said.

The answer would come to him in the middle of the night.

“I had this dream about this birdhouse that I made for my mom and that she loved,” he said.

The birdhouse Iles had made for his mother six years earlier had given her a sort of happiness that she had not expressed for quite some time. A month later, she would pass away and it would be the last time Iles would see that happiness.

“I woke up from this dream remembering that time,” Iles said.

The dream had refreshed his memory and had allowed him to see what it was the he could do in this new stage of his life.

“If I made my mom happy, maybe I could make other women happy?” he said.

As it turns out, this was not the first time that Iles would use his build skills to cheer someone up. In fact, his eldest son Todd had already experienced a similar happiness in his youth.

“He always used to build houses, forts and things out of wood,” said Todd Iles, 35. “He is a very loving father, so he always did stuff for me and my brothers.”

Although Iles has sold birdhouses to men and given them to male friends and relatives, it has been women who have tended to have a much larger demand and appreciation for his creations.

“Women really appreciate them more,” Todd Iles said. “He does do some very macho, cool looking birdhouses, but he can get a lot more intricate with the feminine ones.”

Iles hopes his birdhouses function as a reminder to those who purchase them to not stress about their problems. This is advice that Iles offers to those who choose to take a “homework assignment” with their new purchase.

“I have started in the least year to have this sign that says ‘Homework with every birdhouse,’” Iles said.

When someone purchases one of his houses, they have the option to take a homework assignment.

“What I ask them to do is to use this birdhouse as reminder to do some self help on yourself,” Iles said. “For example, to sit next to the birdhouse, to close their eyes and calm down, when a moment of anger or stress arises.”

Iles claims that close to half of the women who have purchased his birdhouses have taken a homework assignment. And several have contacted him to let him know that his advice has helped them in one way or another. However, Iles insists that these “homework assignments” are not supposed to be solutions to major problems, but exercises that hopefully will help them feel better.

“This is not to resolve the problem, but to feel better,” Iles said.

Iles has sold over 800 birdhouses since he started making them full time three years ago. They sell for between $40-$60.

 “If I have made 800 people happy, look what a huge thing I have done in terms of helping people,” Iles said.

Iles’ birdhouses will be on display at the 13th annual Scotts Valley Art & Wine Festival, Aug. 11 & 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Skypark.