Kevin's Star

The family gathered.  The gifts were exchanged.   Now that we have had our Annual Family Christmas Celebration, I can reveal the LoveLight that was consuming my time and energy for the past few weeks. 'Kevin's Star' LoveLight was created as my gift to my youngest sibling which was well received with rave reviews.

Inspiration actually can take months for me to incubate.  I get an idea, sleep on it, roll it over in my mind, add a few details, roll it over again and probably sleep on it several more times before it finally comes together in a matter of hours or days.  When I think about this, it is very much like incubating a baby.  There is the moment when you realize that a new creature is waiting to be born.  Then comes the planning and preparation and waiting, . . . the dreaming of how it will look and thinking of names before the perfect moment of birth has arrived.  Then there is no stopping the "idea" from presenting itself in the physical form.
 
Music appreciation is a thread that plays throughout our family.  My grandparents were all musically talented.  Dad played the violin and piano following in his folks footsteps and the genes were passed down to my baby brother who plays keyboards in a local band to his heart's delight.   It was only natural that a musical theme would become the inspiration for his LoveLight.   Since I view him as a rising star, the focal point of this piece is an eight pointed star with rays of light pouring out.  In personalizing my mandala designs, I often stitch an outline of a hand print or hide a name in the painted design which is true of this LoveLight.  Brittany is Kevin's daughter and the light in her dad's eye, so it was an easy design detail to include her name along with a tracing of his hand print into this mandala design.  Both the name and the hand tracing are invisible at a distance, causing the viewer to move in for a closer look. 

One morning, while still incubating this design, I awoke with this poem sounding in my mind.  I was compelled to write it down on the pad of paper that I keep on the nightstand.  Convinced that it was divinely inspired, a copy of it was affixed  to the back of the framed piece.  It reads:

                      "Kevin, my brother, is a shining star                       

With his love of music, he'll go far.

He lifts the Spirits of those he sees

when he touches the piano keys.

His love for Brittany everyone knows,

She's in his heart wherever he goes.

You are the inspiration of this LoveLight.

May it fill you with Joy

and your future by bright.

Merry Christmas 2009

Love, Kasia"

Sacred Space

To find the creative mode, I need to surround myself with special music that quiets the ego, photos of family and dear ones (my angels), books that inspire, and knickknack treasures that center me.  The colorful ART collection that hangs in view and the new pieces waiting for attention on the design wall all help me to cross the threshold into the state of creativity where time does not exist.  I simply love my sacred studio space.

I didn't always have such a beautiful spot to play in, but it was always a dream and a wish.  Through the years, the workspace evolved from a corner in the basement, to a counter top in the laundry room.  When our daughter went off to college, the corner in her bedroom became my "sewing niche" on the main floor of the house. That arrangement worked fine until, like most hobbyists, my collections of fabrics and supplies expanded to overflowing the room.  There was a file-box here and a cutting table there with a pile of reference books thrown in the middle.  It was difficult to stay organized.  Gratefully, about that time we decided to relocate our home. My dream studio became a reality in a beautiful room of my own with a view of nature and furniture to house all of the fabrics, supplies, and notions.  It is an answer to a prayer, my little piece of heaven and the place where I find my bliss.