aha moments ....

to live a creative life one must lose the fear of being wrong .... Freedom!

[this was messaged to me this morning and I love it.]

"Focus"
original pen and ink
a Kimberly design
I could draw like this for endless hours ...
and be completely focused.

Then this happened!
Besides loving to draw, I love to
render in thread.

When I create a stitched design for
reproduction ...
there are rules that must be followed.

Every stitch has to be well thought out
as I'm going to have to translate it
to another stitcher on paper with words and graphs.

As I keep creating these 'wild things' ...
your interest grows
AND
I'm hoping that eventually ...
I can convince several of you to
lose the fear of being wrong ....
then you can join me
for a workshop to really learn freedom.

"Center" and "Focus"
[leaning on a giclee of "Marbles"]
a Kimberly design

A friend thought these to be huge ...
nope, I'd never get them finished!

In this body of work will all be
five inches square.

I think I'll call this ...
"Sea"
beginnings of the next piece.

photo finish....

Many of you know I wear several hats ...

so to speak.

I started my journey as an illustrator.

Then I rediscovered fiber ... 

it had always been a presence 

in my life.  I don't think any 

of the women in my family

didn't do some kind of hand work ... always.

Even the men were enlisted to 

needlepoint backgrounds

 when a set of six chair seat 

cushions was desired

by the matriarch, aka. Gramma.

So, I was taught to basketweave 

at a very young age, 

but

sitting still for that long was 

not my forte.

At age ten my teacher announced 

to my entire class,

'your mother can draw, so I'm sure you can too'.

The assignment was to draw 

clouds for a science project.

Hardest thing in the world to make look real, 

in my humble opinion.

My journey will always be around my talents.

AND I love that!

I love to draw, I could sit and draw for hours.

Of course, life interrupts.

My drawings are presently centered around

ideas for a new body of work.

Each piece is to be 5" square,

each very abstract,

each as colorful as I want,

each loaded with treasures,

and

rebellious stitching!

'Center'
the first abstract in this series.
Original Freeform 
mixed media fiber art.
This will be floated into a shadow box 
and available in August at the
Fine Art at the Magnolia
artisan show.

Original Sketch
[prints available]
contact me via
akimberlydesign@gmail.com

Oh how I love bullions,
floating on these are chipped
real metal thread.

 

Couched Japan Gold that
catches the light beautifully.

Beginnings of the bead pile.
That's about four layers of
wool felt appliqued to the center.

So much fun ...

I have drawers full of treasure.
No idea where these wonderful green beads
came from originally but they're perfect.

When you finish a piece around
midnight and
start playing with
your phone camera.
Love this shot.

.... and this one.

So I did this thing ....

I entered my super ginormous free form

"Trio"

into a local fine art show ....

and they said 'yes'!

I also entered the original painting of

"Flying Jewels"

and they said 'yes' to it too!!!

How awesome is that!?!

The place: 

The Melvin Art Gallery 

Florida Southern College

111 Lake Hollingsworth Dr.

Lakeland, Florida

Time: May 10th through June 7th

Opening Reception

Friday evening May 10, 6:30 to 8:30

If you're in town, 

I hope to see you there.

"Trio"
Before we put the ... ahem ...
museum glass over these lovelies,
I had some camera fun.  

Ready for their close up.

I have a load of fun when I'm unleashed.
I wrapped strips of mat board
with 7mm River Silk
for these stems!

Perfect landing....

This was the original drawing for
what we affectionately call
'the big bug'.
It took me awhile to actually get it painted, it lived
as a pencil on canvas drawing for some time.
"Flying Jewels"


Just for kicks .... here you can see just
how ginormous this piece is compared
to Moi!
It was a challenge that I want
many more times.


A big thank you to 
Carolyn's Frame Up
Lakeland, Florida
for the beautiful 
framing of both pieces.