Pieces from vintage 1950s board games often play a part in Bacher’s shadow boxes.

It doesn’t matter how valuable the individual keepsakes used in each box are, he points out. As long as they mean something to the person who commissions the work, he adds, the piece will become a priceless treasure. “I call it touchable art,” he states. Bacher says he sometimes utilizes custom-designed fasteners fashioned from deer antlers to attach the items; the objects then can be removed from the box for a closer look and snapped back into place afterward. “It is like a little magic trick,” he says.

Bacher’s artwork seems to have caught the attention of shops and galleries around the state. “He does a beautiful job; I’ve never seen anything else like it,” offers Tom Leonhardi of Robb & Stucky Interiors, a furniture and home-decor store that has been carrying the craftsman’s wares for three years. Betty Wilde, co-owner of Wilde Meyer Gallery in Scottsdale, calls Bacher when she needs a frame for a painting that has a Western or equestrian motif. She comments: “He’s very creative, and he really fits frames to the art.”

Regardless of whether the task is to frame a pricey painting for a gallery or arrange pieces of a vintage board game into a shadow box, Bacher enjoys finding ways to present items in an artistic manner. “The best part of the job is seeing an object and being given an opportunity to ask, ‘What would you do with this?’ It just starts off a symphony of ideas in my head,” he says with a smile.

GROUP MENTALITY
Ronald Bacher offers the following ideas for grouping keepsakes in shadow boxes:
• In memory of a hole-in-one, combine the golf ball, score card, pegs and glove from the lucky round.
• Put report cards, pom-poms, class photographs, yearbook pages and other school-related items together to celebrate the good old days.
• A box filled with pictures of a bride and groom, written vows, the garter band, menu and ceremony program serves as a reminder of the wedding day.
• Honor your favorite musical group by including album covers, posters, concert tickets and memorabilia.
• As a reminder of the early days of your child’s life, combine baby shoes, a copy of the birth certificate, photographs and nursery rhyme books.