Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Inspire Your Heart With Art

When asked how art inspires my life, I had to take a step back and think about it for a minute.  I guess I never realized that art is and has been included in every day of my life for most of my life.

My grandfather was an artist.  He learned at a very young age that he could draw anything and people enjoyed it, especially the other children in his art class at school.  He would do everyone's drawings for them, for which they would receive an A, and he would get a C at best on his.  He was a character  (as you can tell from his photo), and I gather from stories he told he was in trouble a lot in school.



Fast forward a few years and he was teaching art class at my school.  He taught us all about vanishing points and horizon lines and how to draw bowls of fruit...well, he taught everyone in the class except me, you see, I cannot draw a straight line.  You have no idea how frustrating it was for him to have one of his grandchildren not be able to to do something that was so easy for him.  He was a great teacher, I just wasn't into art...that is until my grandmother gave me a needlepoint kit.  Now that was an art form I could understand!  I had tried embroidery at the age of 6 and loved it, but needlepoint, that was like painting with fiber and it opened up a whole new world.

Here I am 30 some years later and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't have some art form in my life...it can be crocheted hearts or some other holiday ornament, quilt, or decoration that helps me celebrate the season.



It can be a quilt that has been made with tiny little pieces or hand stitched together to form a covering for a bed.



I can dream for hours looking at fabrics deciding what colors to use for a certain pattern or finding the perfect pattern for a favorite fabric.

But it doesn't end there.  I love all different kinds of threads and yarns.  Who would have thought I could spend hours making doilies or punching thread through a fabric to create a picture that looks like...ART.



My grandfather didn't live long enough to see me loving art, my form of art, as much as he did his.  Even though I don't use oils, acrylics, or charcoal as my art form, I use thread, fabric, yarn, or wool to create something that brings me as much pleasure as his forms brought him.

I was fun to ponder how art inspires me on a daily basis.  If you would like to see some amazing ornaments, check out Patience Brewster Ornaments, they are inspirational!  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen

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