Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit // Artwork

I have intentions of selling pretty much all of the artwork I create, but I decided to hold on to this one. 

I've seen this quote floating around Pinterest and Etsy for a while now but I've been so inspired by it. The quote actually derived from Kate Forsyth's The Witches of Eileanan, "May my heart be kind, my mind fierce, and my spirit brave." I haven't read the book but I do love this quote. 

When I finished painting this girl, she seemed to hold all of these characteristics. Obviously, she's not real but an artist becomes connected to the person or objects in the artwork, just as a writer becomes connected to the people (fiction or non-fiction) that he / she writes about. Trust me, as I'm writing this, I'm questioning if I should share this or not. I realize how crazy it sounds. But I'm trusting that you'll either disregard the craziness and continue to read future blog posts or you'll love this piece and totally relate to what I'm saying.

Kind heart, fierce mind, brave spirit: these are characteristics I pray to develop in my own life. I lack each one daily but it is because of the grace of God that I entail these characteristics at all. 

This painting hangs in my studio along with a few other favorites of mine. It is a reminder of who I want to be and the warrior heart I strive to attain. 

What quote or scripture are you drawn to this week?

Jitney's Journeys : Proverbs 31 Fabric Collage

A sweet friend, Halee, asked me if I could make something special for her mom's birthday, specifically a piece focused on Proverbs 31. After brainstorming different ideas, we decided on a fabric collage with a neutral color palette and pops of pink and turquoise, as well as burlap and lace. I embraced the theme of threes (because of her mom's three daughters) then adorned the collage with three vintage brooches and three ivory buttons.

When my great-grandmother passed away, she left tons of boxes filled with lovely sewing supplies, lace, zippers, fabric... anything you can think of in the sewing department. I, of course, wanted to incorporate several of those things into the collage (this theme reminds me so much of her) so I used one of her unfinished fabric squares as the first layer of the collage as well as lace and some of the crocheted doilies I found in the stash.

Halee sent me two pictures to use, one of her and her two sisters when they were younger, and the other of her family at Disney World this year. A vintage spoon is the center of the piece with "mother" engraved into it (in hindsight, I was I had used larger-set metal stamps but I used what I had) and a vial of pink flowers laid on a paper flower made of tissue, sheet music and kraft paper.

My absolute favorite part of Jitney's is being able to make personalized gifts like this. I've yet to meet Halee's mother, but what an honor it is to create a piece for a woman Halee loves so dearly!