You're Invited to a Sneak Peek!

This is the second in my pair from "Core of Faith." Entitled "Faithful Heart" this was inspired by readings in Isaiah and in a sermon preached on Sunday about the true, right and good fear of the Lord. Our fear of Him should inspire us to love Him even more.

This was created with a vintage bottle. When I found it the little gold heart was already firmly affixed. That was the beginning of direction for me... the heart is always at the core and as you peel back the layers you find what drives someone... "All that leads the heart to knowing" is firmly attached as a reminder... What leads our heart to knowing? The Lord alone.


This is another of my "Fairy tales in Glass" line... Thanks goes to JoannA from Mosshill Studios for that sweet title. "To love and to cherish" is simply beautiful in it's sharing of a sweet and pure love. This vintage bottle is embellished with encaustic wax, crushed silk ribbon, bead, wire, "Cherish" brass tag, vintage picture reproductions, glitter and layers of trim... both new and vintage.
Here's another from my "Core of Faith" series. This is "King of Kings" and was inspired by the fibres used on the bottle... as I began to layer I saw the royal colors. King of Kings is a reminder to me of who alone is worthy of receiving honor and glory. Adorned with various fibres, tag, bead, wire and of course encaustic wax, one also notes the snippets from an old book "King o'er all things" and "Love Divine."

"Winter Wind" was fun to make and very different from most pieces. It started out as "Winter Wonderland" using the piece adorning the twine bow as the focal point. Upon finding the antique shoe clip however I began to see a different picture. The layers of blue satin and white eyelet, sprinkled with the merest shake of fine white glitter should give one the feel of a cold and icy winter's day where the wind is blowing the snow, the sun is catching the flakes in the air as if they are falling diamonds and the beautiful tree in the field is already decked out in all it's finery.

"Come with me" is my first attempt at encaustic on an antique book cover... here I have used an old journal cover from which the pages had all fallen out. Embellished with rich fabrics, vintage buckle bases, black lace, both vintage and antique buttons a snippet of "Come with me lassie" poetry and a sweet reproduction of a vintage 1900s postcard .... I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.

There will be more at my booth, all prices and styles. Please join us, Saturday, November 28, 10-4 at Pourhouse Cafe across from the main library.

Shalom, Kim

New Head Needed

Ah... sounds like I'm about to break into a poor me pity party. Not actually.

I had one of those AHA moments in my art recently. One of my bottles just decided to create itself. Sad thing is I need a HEAD, more specifically a Frozen Charlotte head. I think this bottle will be an "angel." And yes, I KNOW that what I make and what angels look like are LIGHT YEARS apart. How?

Well, have you ever read biblical accounts of men encountering angels? The first thing the angel says is, "Fear not." Why would that be? I don't think it's necessarily because their appearance would be frightening, although if you read the account of "wheels within wheels" and "clouds of smoke with many eyes" that might very well be terrifying. However, what I know would be true is that their very purity and holiness would set them apart from us. We would recognize them as being of God and therefore something to fear in the good and right sense.

This morning while reading Isaiah 6: 1-6 we encountered seraphim. Ezekiel 1: 1-28 shares an account of a vision experienced by Ezekiel. In Revelation 4: 5-11 we find another vision filled with angels. What we see is that these servants of God inspire both fear and a desire to worship them, but in their humility and truth they always turn our worship back to God, the only one worthy of our worship.

So, back to the bottle...hmm, that sounds bad. But you know what I mean. My bottle has a beautiful heart already adhered to it. I can't remove it, I've tried. But, then I realized that the very things that make us fear angels are both their purity and our sinful nature. Kind of like holding a big dirt ball over a beautiful white linen cloth... you know they don't quite belong together. Hence my need for a head... I want the beautiful heart to be the focus of this piece, an angel with a servant's heart that is pure and holy ready to serve God alone.

If anyone has an old Frozen Charlotte head they're willing to part with, just let me know. Believe me, I've kept my eyes open. The ones pictured above are on display in Illinois at the Lincoln home site in Springfield. I must have talked about them a time or two because the last antique mall I visited with Dear he called, "HEY... FROZEN CHARLOTTES!" And I came running... I know, sad isn't it? What did I find? My husband and my daughters laughing hysterically. Okay... it was funny. I mean seriously, a 46-year-old woman running to see an old doll? Still... I keep looking because I want others to think of the beauty of the Lord's servants as they really are.

Have a great and creative day!
Blessings, Kim

Silence is golden

or, in this case the blog silence may be golden, but it's not so silent at home.

I may have bitten off more than I can chew this time around. Seems I said, "Yes," to the request to be a vendor at the Art and Soul show on Nov. 28. This is my FIRST year... actually, truth be told it's my first at most of what I am doing for this show.

However, I couldn't, of course, JUST say yes to the show, I am also on call for a birth, STILL trying to complete my CBI Doula certification (2 book reports finished last week!), homeschool the girls, teach one adv. level co-op for an 8th grader and a sophomore, "teach" art at our larger co-op on Friday (that is not too difficult), and try to keep up with the girls' assignments from that co-op... I'm woefully behind. IN the meantime I'd really like to start teaching childbirth classes again.

My classes fill a needed gap in the community, they bring in some extra dollars, and it's a great way to meet people and minister to them. However, I would have to be out of the home at least once a week if not twice. I'd have to find a location where I might teach... my basement is now FULL of homeschool items, weight bench, etc., "craft studio" (can you say tables with LOTS of stuff on them), TV, books, etc. In other words... it won't work. I might fit three couples in the living room, but that's not going to make it worthwhile for a paying class.

Hmmmm, we'll see what happens. In the meantime I continue to study for CBI and to create for Art and Soul. My latest creations are button jewelry... very Victorian in their feel... or modern... I'm not sure exactly, I just know they're not like other jewelry I've seen. (Too bad... the other stuff is really great! Just come to the show and see.)

Don't you just love that wrinkly linen shirt? HA! Fooled you... to better show off the necklace I had MMH tuck an old hankie in her shirt front. Oh yes, the tricks of photography! And yes, those three large pieces are old buttons.

Well, back to life here. We have two extras for two days while their parents finally get to celebrate their 15th anniversary. We also have a library visit to make, a trip to the post office for Sarah so she can get her quilt pieces, a trip to Mama Magpie's house to help out there and dinner, and all else that is included in a homeschooling family... you know, LIFE.

Hope you all are having a good week. I'll try to get photos of everything before or during the show.

Remember, Art and Soul, Nov. 28... if you're in our area just come to the Pour House across from the Main Library and we'll be there from 10-4.

Blessings, Kim

When enough is enough

It appears that all the pieces are sold... I'll post again right here if that changes. Thanks!

I was making my usual rounds of garage sales this summer when I came upon a box of old/vintage/antique(?) quilt pieces/scraps. I grabbed them up for a great price and had a great idea for them. I finished two projects and was pretty tired of the whole thing.

So, now I have a HUGE box of quilt pieces and no time to do much with them for this year's show and not sure I want to mess with them for next year's show. First dibs go to "Makin' Projiks" (Queen of Quilts!), however if she doesn't want them and none of you want them I'll just post them to my ETSY shop... probably in lots. Not sure... that's a LOT of photos to post! (Unless I get a brainstorm between now and then that is...)

Here goes:
This is group one... obviously all the same shape and meant for a quilt... I just don't know the pattern.

This is group two:

The center piece would be the basket of flowers. It's really lovely and in good condition. It's just SOOOO big! That's a full size couch it's spread out on and you can see how much room it takes to display.

The little piece in the lower right corner is gorgeous. The petal quilting has a 3D effect with the red petals having a "pucker" to them... so cute!

Here's the basket in it's entirety...

Here is group three:

I see a lot of mint green and vintage pink colors here. Framed these would look lovely on a wall. I just have neither the time nor the money... unless you wanted to special order a piece... I have a few old chippy window frames, old sewing needle books/papers, etc. It could be very nice. But unless I have a special order I just can't afford to do this on a whim... If you're interested just contact me or leave a comment.

And here is the final group, group four:
A mix of colors and patterns.

I am quite happy to sell the whole lot, by the piece or group lots as photoed. In other words.. make an offer.

Sarah... if you're out there... here they are.... late but all here. (You can just email me directly if you want to ask anything....)

Blessings, Kim

Art and God

Okay, so since I've been so busy "creating" lately this has been on my mind a lot. Also, "coincidentally" an article about parenting the creative child was in one of my homeschool magazines recently. My friend and I have been talking about this A LOT as both of us are feeling stretched at some times, stressed at others. After a LONG talk, and lots of thinking these are my thoughts put out here for your comments. PLEASE add comments...

When I think about God and HIS creation I recall that he took time to rest. He would look at each piece of creation and deem it good, then continue. When he was done he rested.

So, here are the two questions to ask oneself about one's art:
1. Is it good?
2. Have you, the artist, rested?

1. Is it good?
That is a loaded question, because what you see and what others see may differ. I always tell my students that there is one rule in art... it may not tell a lie. That does not mean they may not use imagination, but they may not set out to tell a purposeful untruth for the purpose of deceiving others. While discussing angels and demons and spiritual battles with MMH and another student the other day we discussed how often evil will disguise itself with beauty. So, it's not merely enough that we strive to make something beautiful, but that what we make is honoring to God... either in the obedience of making it or in the message it imparts or both.

Perhaps this why I always have words in my work... I don't trust my work to say what I am thinking. I don't know. So all you artists, "What is your work saying? Is it honoring to God in it's message or in your obedience to using your gift? "

2. Have you rested?
I can be a real perfectionist and I find that I need to take time with each piece. I cannot seek to create simply to fill my table at a show. I am wondering if you, my fellow artists, take time to stop and rest and enjoy the creating or the creations. I am guessing that many artists are DRIVEN to create and they simply don't enjoy the process or the project. One can't separate the art from the artist. Without rest, refreshing and renewal the art itself will go cold and stale.

I wonder if the "masters" enjoyed the process or the end projects. I wonder if they were driven all the time, or merely when "the muse" took hold. Did they create because God created them to create or did they create to fill their pocketbooks?

What is art?

I get very few comments on this blog. I would truly LOVE to hear comments about this post. I'll happily discuss them in THE COMMENT SECTION. Please dear readers, be involved and help me to work through these thoughts. I've kept this post relatively short.. two points... so it should be easy to discuss. Thanks so much!
Blessings, Kim

Music and Worship

Welcome to the ever changing blog!

Each Sunday as we enter the sanctuary we are blessed to be hearing some sort of music... whether it's the band getting ready or someone at the keyboard or on a guitar. The music reminds me that I am entering a time of worship, of giving Thanks to God and of hearing from His Word and about Him.

Now, in NO WAY is this blog a church, but I thought it would be so nice to add some worship music to remind me of WHO God is and of WHY I do what I do. Kind of to keep me focused.

You'll find the playlist at the bottom of the page, and if you want to turn the music off, check out my list or change tunes feel free. I'm sure you'll note that I like a lot of "oldies but goodies" and I do. I like many other types of music as well, but I wanted to really focus on worship right now. Hope you enjoy. By the way, if anyone knows how to add the Good Shepherd Band to the playlist I'd be tickled PINK!

Thanks, and Blessings,
Kim

Altered Bottles

So, way back this summer I hit my first ever auction. Then I went to my second auction and it was in a home. And I was sooooo surprised, because everywhere you looked were bottles... all shapes, sizes and colors. Now, I love my ball jars, and there are some awfully pretty bottles around, but we're talking thousands of bottles and I'm not exaggerating. I, of course, did NOT bid on any.

HIT MYSELF IN THE HEAD!

Because, a few months back I did bid on some bottles at an auction and won them and had a GREAT idea for "altering" them. But, it wasn't quite complete. What I really wanted was some way to "finish" the look. Then, lo and behold I discovered Joanna Pierotti's art journal blog online. Her blog is my new "go to" blog for visual beauty. Her art is incredible. When I first visited her blog she was was using encaustic (molten beeswax mixed with damar resin) on her "flat" pieces... often using old book covers and many layers of wonderful cloth, ribbons, charms, and other ephemera.

I finally got up the nerve to write to her to ask a bit about encaustic art. Well, before she wrote back I had already been reading a number of books and researching online and decided to try the "cheap" approach... i.e. not rush out to buy everything new. SO, with an old used griddle, washed out tomato paste cans (in which to melt the wax), some inexpensive camel hair brushes and old wax crayons and beautiful aromatic pure beeswax I began. I altered my first three bottles. Then I heard back from Joanna and found her next online class is in altering bottles. How cool is that?! She actually shows four of them on her blog. While our finished pieces are different I definitely think she gets the credit for my vision for my bottles. And now, of course, I could just kick myself for not bidding on at least a couple of boxes of those bottles! Oh well...

Here are my first three altered bottles. I hope you enjoy! (And, if any of you have antique or vintage bottles with flat fronts please let me know, I'd be happy to "dispose" of them for you. HA!)

"Dreamer"

This is actually my third bottle. The woman's picture is an actual postcard piece from the early 1900s, the buttons are vintage buttons from the collection given to me by a friend from her friend. The crystal is from an old chandelier and the paper is from an old journal I found at a fun antique mall. The little copper tag says "dream"... I keep thinking she is dreaming of the man she loves... she just has that look. You'll be able to purchase her at the "Art and Soul" show on November 28 at the Pour House Cafe. (If you're interested now please leave a comment and I'll get back to you.)

"The Harvest"

Here again is another vintage postcard. I just cut it apart and collaged. The picture was so sweet.. I'm not sure whether the harvest is the grain or the girl, but either way it works! I added glitter, and some copper colored wax crayon to the beeswax. The ribbon is kept very simple as the picture is not one that calls for a lot of bling. I loved the vintage earring to cover the knot... just the right touch.

"The Fairy Song"

This is such a sweet picture of a young child... turned fairy with the simple addition of delicate golden and lacy wings. The song title behind this little fairy is "Twilight: Song Without Words". That sounds like a fairy song to me... something beautiful and magical being sung in the garden as the birds and bees settle to rest.

I hope you've enjoyed my latest creations. As Joanna told me in her email, encaustic is very addicting. I'm not sure whether it's the texture of the beeswax, the rich aroma or simply the joy of creating, but I'm fairly sure I'll be making more altered bottles if given half a chance. See you at "Art and Soul" in November. Please come, it will be my first time to be part of a show and I'm getting more excited every day!

Blessings, Kim