Currently: March 7, 2017
If you've been following along my Instagram the last couple of weeks, you may be familiar with a peachy little art collective called the Art Stew. My lovely and talented friend Rhea Amyett started this project back in January — each week, the participating artists are given a new prompt and we each make something that follows the prompt in our own unique craft. Together, our abundance of work creates a big ol' pot of "art stew."
It's a thriving and supportive little community of artists -- but anyone's welcome to pop by the Stew at any time! Head over to the #artstew52 hashtag on Instagram to check out work by other skippy artists (turned friends). I so wish I could sit down, have coffee and make with my fellow Stewards. Grateful for all of you.
Anyways! Since we're hopping into the third month of Art Stew 52, I thought I'd share some of what I've been making for the project! Ten down, 42 to go. This week, we'll be making a piece of work inspired by another artist in the Stew. It's going to be a massive challenge because I'm so inspired by all of you!
W E E K T W O :: S N U G
There's a clan of the tiniest raccoons. Their paws equal the size of just a few grains of sand and their entire selves are no bigger than a pinecone. They are kind but also naturally sneaky -- the raccoons are known to hide away in hydrangea bushes, awaiting a passerby who is wearing a snug, cozy sweater. When the raccoon spots one of these humans, she snatches up a hydrangea sprig and scurries out of the bush. She darts behind, dodging feet and follows this human into their home. She likes this human's sweater very much, so much that once the human removes it to change into sleeping clothes, the raccoon takes a pair of tiny copper scissors from her belt and snips off a small amount of the sweater's yarn. She has a stick draped with yarn scraps at her hydrangea home. Those are her own snug scarves. The raccoon is kind, of course, she always leaves a hydrangea sprig by your sweater when she takes out her copper scissors
W E E K T H R E E :: E V E R G R E E N
Here's a process shot for this week's Art Stew 52 prompt! I also have an entire page of ideas for a new project that this will be part of, so stay tuned for the unveiling of that! I'm SO flippin' excited, friends 💛
Side note :: here's why I'm fully and completely in love with the Art Stew weekly project. •
I graduated with a Studio Art degree about eight months ago. Upon reflection tonight, everything I made while in school was created with anxiety intertwined in my handiwork. Every creative move HAD to have meaning behind it. Each creative decision I made while making was preceded by thoughts of "What's the purpose of this?" because we talked about our work endlessly and critiqued deeply. •
I think that's why the Art Stew year long project I'm participating in is a breath of the absolute cleanest air. I drew this evergreen branch and quite honestly, it doesn't have a meaning to me. And nobody's going to care. I started with pencil, experimented with watercolor for the first time in absolutely forever and added some pen markings. Since I've taken on a liking to gold, I threw on some glimmering detailing and a golden border. Why? I'm not entirely sure, but I also took out a forest green colored pencil and scribbled in some green shading. •
This Art Stew community is supportive and full of experimentation and I adore my fellow makers already. I'm not anxious to try combinations of four different materials. I listened to Bennie and the Jets on repeat while drawing this evergreen sprig. And I could breathe without the anxiety I felt while in college as an art student. •
Actually, maybe this simple evergreen sprig is symbolic of creative freedom sans anxiety for my soul.
W E E K F O U R :: L U N A R
When I was small, I dreamed of living in outer space. It boggled my young mind that there was no end to the darkness, that it perhaps traveled endlessly on and on. That really, the small Kate standing on Earth was microbial in comparison to the massive darkness hosting revolving planets and stars and faraway galaxies. When I was small, I wanted to explore space, to leave this earth. But nowadays, outer space seems like it would be lonely and I think I would miss the foliage and greenery and foraging opportunities to design detailed dried wreathes. At least for now, I'll dream lunar dreams. But maybe someday, if another planet that offers a forest sanctuary is discovered, I'll be a space explorer.
W E E K F I V E :: A F A V O R I T E B O O K
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." This week's Art Stew 52 prompt had my heart reaching back to Harry Potter with every beloved book I flipped through. This weaving is fully Gryffindor house-colored inspired and hopefully reminds you of a good ol' cardigan knit by Molly Weasley.
I'm rereading the books right now and am fully reminded of why the HP series was such a large part of my childhood. I have many favorite books in my arsenal, but my go-to will forever be Harry Potter.
W E E K S I X :: L O V E Y D O V E Y
In the past year, I've told myself that if a man happened to bring me flowers, I would dry the blooms and turn them into sculpture. That would be a compliment from me, of course. There is absolutely nothing like carefully moving your small hands to work with the fragility of petals as thin as paper. Preserving the beauty of nature into atmospheric and floating sculpture steals my heart every single time. It feels like home. I imagine that's how love feels like -- respectfully and mindfully handling a fragile process, discovering how a feeling of home and comfort resonates deep into the bones of each other, and creating a beautiful, preserved space. Timeless. Suspended by a thread.
W E E K N I N E :: W I N T E R ' S L A S T B R E A T H
Keep your chins up, dear sweet skippies. Feel the softness of your winter sweaters against your skin and know that soon you'll be able to shed the warm cocoon for breathable, light fabrics. Give blooms to strangers because it will remind them that those days are coming so, so soon. Seek to find beauty in all the corners. Take a walk with coffee in hand to watch the season's colors transition from brown and muted to green and breathing.
Currently: February 28, 2017
My sweet friend has officially embarked on a journey in Italy for two months and I'm officially struck with a desire to travel too because this planet offers the absolute most majestic views and culture. These are the places I want my feet to travel to someday, the places where I want to collect bits and pieces from. Somebody please join me.
Vatnajökull National Park
I C E L A N D
Every time I see photos of Iceland's dramatic and plentifully contrasting geographic features, I get closer to buying a one way plane ticket.
Heart Spring in Upper Geyser Basin
Y E L L O W S T O N E
Okay, so I have been to Yellowstone National Park already but I was twelve and I remember being absolutely enchanted by everything about it. I need to visit it again to fall completely in love.
Zhangye Danxia Landform
G A N S U, C H I N A
HOW THE HECK IS THE ZHANGYE DANXIA LANDFORM EVEN REAL.
Gokyo Valley
N E P A L
MOUNTAINS. PEOPLE. YAKS. LAKES. FLAGS. STOP.
Louvre
P A R I S
For the art, obviously. But also I've heard rumors that flower shops are everywhere you turn.
A N G K O R W A T
Pretty sure these trees are from a dream and please admire the living moss encasing the ancient temples. Take me to Cambodia at sunrise.
And a running list of some others as I keep going down the rabbit hole of world exploration...
- Zimbabwe
- Thailand
- Machu Picchu
- Tiny English villages
- Switzerland
- The Holy Land
- Venice
- Egypt
- Barcelona
- Cape Town
- Greece
- Cappadocia, Turkey
4:52
This is a love letter to the ones who evening dream on Sundays, to the ones who sit in a quiet space between four white walls covered in dying flowers as the clock slowly ticks at 4:52. If you live with nobody else, perhaps you haven’t murmured a single word since leaving church this morning, both a blessing and a curse.
As the sun goes back into hiding, the golden hour will turn towards a gradient of shadows that cross the living room floor. This is when the dreamers emerge from the woodworks to grow the One Idea.
I think maybe lonely Sunday evenings were designed to romanticize the dreamers. We fill our lungs with intentionally breathed air. We start nurturing the One Idea when we're restless because Netflix and novels aren’t filling the empty spaces anymore, when we’re tired of watching the clock tick closer to 10:00 -- the sign that it’s not too early to lay our heads on our pillow for the night.
The One Idea is introduced as a character in your story when your brain is moving a million times faster than your body, when you've curled up in a cocoon of soft blankets with no intention of emerging.
The quiet creeps in from underneath the door cracks. Those who live alone either let it envelope us or we'll allow the quiet to become the golden scene for the One Idea's development.
Sundays are restful. Be still and listen because passion projects, the One Ideas, are usually planted as soul whispers.
Our minds start wandering to the situations in this shadowy world that need to be loved on or gently bandaged up, and our brains begin chirping to water the roots for the One Idea.
We remove the journal or the sketchbook from the precariously piled stack of books, open to the next clean page and start scrawling messy thoughts and simple drawings to document the web in our minds. The quiet becomes an intentional friend instead of a beast in the shadowed corner.
The restless wigglings fuel us to act with our small hands, to bandage the cracks of darkness. When the dreamers crawl out from the woodworks as the sun falls asleep on Sundays, the One Idea waters a promising plant.
This is a continuation of thoughts from some writing I did last week. I was invited to write for Comeback Magazine (an indie magazine) about the One Idea and Bravery Mission. The quarterly magazine will be published soon and I can’t wait for you to read more about my heart whispers about developing the One Idea!
Here is Comeback’s mission statement, I'm slightly obsessed with it ::
“Comeback is a collection of stories with the sole purpose of helping anyone lost to find a path. Comeback believes that no one is in the same place as another. Comeback reaches through the vast resources available to today’s generation and takes back the purest, realist advice to provide a beginning for self-discovery, motivation, and curiosity. A comeback is not just a return to former glory; it’s going beyond what was thought possible.”
Currently: February 21, 2017
My desk at church sits in front of a window that overlooks the lobby. There's a preschool in the building and tiny humans frequently pass in front of me. Today, I had a forest of aromatic floral and greenery bouquets and bunches surrounding my workspace that were from a funeral last week.
Two young kids came up the stairs a little after lunch time. They usually wave at me — but today they stopped in their tracks, looked through my window and gasped at the unfamiliar sight of twelve oversized flower displays in the office. I noticed them staring and whispering to each other. Without even thinking, I snatched up a pair of scissors and cut two yellow daisies off one of the arrangements. I gave the small boy and the smaller girl one each and the boy proclaimed that he would give it to his mom. Naturally, his sister followed suit.
It brightened my heart to be surrounded by a forest of flowers in my office space all day. But even more so, I hope that passing along two simple small flowers could perhaps be the rose of a sweet mom's day when her two children present pretty blooms to her.
What are some ways you could show simple, every day acts of kindness? Here are some ideas!
- Make a golden playlist with songs for a friend that speak to their current walk of life.
- Put a small care package in your car to pull from if you see a homeless human.
- Shoot a quick text of your favorite memory with a close friend to say "I'm thinking about you."
- Write a love letter and put it in the mail for a dear friend.
- Write another letter and leave it in a public space for a stranger to find.
- Visit More Love Letters and send snail mail to a stranger who could truly use it.
- Do a chore or activity for somebody that makes their day a little lighter.
- Be a listener.
- Pay for somebody's coffee.
- Make quick conversation with your cashier at the store. Encourage them.
- Talk to the quiet person.
- Compliment your coworkers. Thank them for what they do.
- My personal favorite :: Give somebody a flower.
Currently: February 14, 2017
Did you hear yesterday that I released my Hogwarts House inspired weaving collection? Head over to my shop to check them out!
Also, I do suppose it's Valentine's Day too! Here's a blog post I wrote last year that still rings true for my heart today. Much love to you!
"You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Wheir daring, nerve and chivalry,
Set Gryffindors apart."
"You might belong in Hufflepuff
Where they are just and loyal.
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil."
"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a steady mind.
Where those of wit and learning
Will always find their kind."
"Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends.
These cunning folks use any means,
To achieve their ends."