Jennie Kimbrough's Blog

Productive Days | Houston Encaustic Artist

2012-02-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

Look! I finished some paintings! Its been a pretty productive time in my studio the last couple weeks. I think its funny how it takes me about 3 days of working in my studio constantly to really fall in love with it again and feel a need to be in there. If I'm not in there regularly, though, its a bit of a drag. My goal this week is to continue that momentum and get some more stuff done.

These three paintings are part of a series within another body of work. I am doing a large body of work that has to do with the nature of our flesh vs. the nature of our souls, with each piece being centered around a relevant scripture. One section of scripture that I find relevant is Matthew:25-24, but that is a pretty big chunk with lots of interesting topics to just paint one painting about. So I decided to break it down into seven paintings, and these are the first three finished. I am very happy with how they have turned out, way better than I feared. I don't know if anyone else gets insecure about their work, but I totally do. I kinda expect to fail on every painting, and then when I don't I'm pretty happy. Thus I am currently happy, having not failed. Enough talking from me. Enjoy some art.

Matthew 6:26

Matthew 6:28

Matthew 6:29-30

Sweet Baby Boy | Pearland Baby Photographer

2012-02-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness! These parents are so lucky to have such a beautiful baby boy! The story behind this super cutie is just wonderful. This couple has been trying for a child for years, and finally opened up their heart to the possibility of adoption. After completing the complicated process of getting on the list for adoption, they were prepared for a long wait until they could have a baby to call theirs. But, God had a different plan! A sweet couple who were just unprepared to take care of the baby they were expecting saw a picture of a cross in this prospective adoptive couple's adoption book, and realized that the couple goes to the same church as relatives of the birth parents. Only a few months after these hopeful parents were put on the adoption list, a sweet baby boy was in their arms! All because of the cross, which is such a big part of their lives. I love this couple, and now they have a baby boy for me to love, too! And isn't he a cute one...

Don't they just look so happy? Who wouldn't be, with that cutie in your arms!

Gallery Opening at bohemeo's | Houston Artist

2012-01-29T12:54:00.000-08:00

I have been a bad blogger. I know. The first step is admitting you have a problem. Hello, my name is Jennie and I am bad at keeping on top of my blog. Now that we've cleared the air, I have a post that should have done a while ago (I'm embarrassed to say how long a while that means). Regardless, I am now ready to post pictures from my gallery opening at bohemeo's. When can you go see this show? Never. Its already over. I told you I've been bad. But for all you people who have been dying to see some photos from the show (you know who you are...) here are some choice pics. Next time I have a gallery opening, I'll be sure to tell you ahead of time, and to be prompt with pictures of the opening. Unless I don't. Because, as I have previously mentioned, I am a bad blogger.

The Cutest Couple! | Galveston Family Photographer

2012-01-12T12:45:00.000-08:00

I love taking pictures of couples. I really enjoy capturing how much they love each other, holding hands, kissing, or laughing together. Granted, about every session I do I think "I love taking this type of picture!" Families, maternity, newborn, couples. I love them all. But man, couples do make my job easy sometimes. They can't help but look good!

Aside from the slightly stalker-ish pose, I think this picture is one of my favorites. Doesn't she look beautiful? I can see why he loves her; she's gorgeous inside and out!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-05T14:37:00.000-08:00

Trains! | Galveston Family Photographer

2011-11-16T10:39:00.001-08:00

I love this family! I have known this woman for a few years, and she's my headache buddy. Everyone who has chronic migraines needs a headache buddy. Its just like people who have twins need a twin buddy, or so I've heard. Anyway. I absolutely loved spending time with them! Plus my husband got to come on this shoot, and was climbing all over the trains. It was such a good time. I want to do another shoot here, there are so many awesome trains, and I love all the rust and the colors... Some days being a photographer is super fun.

Don't they looked so great together? I love the earth tones with a pop of hot pink. Awesome style.

A lovely day | Houston Family Photographer

2011-11-15T13:43:00.001-08:00

I am so happy I got to take pictures of this family! They are about the most beautiful people ever... plus i really love the matching father son faux-hawks. Can you believe they haven't had pictures taken since before their son was born? They were like professional models or something, they looked so good. I am in love with their outfits, too, very pretty, very pretty. Seriously, I couldn't stop smiling when I was looking through their session, they look so good. And they're super nice, on top of that. Who could ask for more?

I love the big hugs in this picture! Every family needs an awesome hugging picture, I have now decided.

Tonight!

2011-11-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

I know I'm super late posting this blog, but I do want to make sure to put it out there, I have a show tonight! Well, its a show for the next month, but tonight is the opening. Tuesday? An opening? Yep, heard me right, tonight is an opening for me! We hung the show last night, and man, we packed that place! It looks awesome. We are having live music by A Lesser War, and I am so excited! They are so talented, and I am so happy to have them playing at my opening! Is that a lot of exclamation points in one paragraph? You bet!

My Grandma-in-law | Texas Portrait Photographer

2011-10-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

A while ago (a long while) Nathan and I were able to go and visit his Grandma over near Amarillo, Texas. Since we never get to see her, and most of the family lives equally far away, I thought it would be nice to take some pictures of her while in town so everyone would have some beautiful pictures to look at when they couldn't see her pretty face. She's very much a behind the scenes person, and forcing her in front of the camera felt anything but natural, but I am in love with how much her beauty shines through.

Normally I only share a few images from each session on my blog, but since this one was for family, I thought I would share more than normal.

This one is my favorite favorite! I love her smile, and I love all the sun, and I love the beautiful field she's standing in.

I've got to say, I think I'm on the opposite side from most all of society as far as aging goes, because I do believe that she's one of the most beautiful people I've ever photographed. I might be a tad biased because I know her and love her, but I'm pretty sure she's just beautiful even if I'd never met her before.

I am so happy! | Houston Encaustic Artist

2011-09-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

So today I got an email from the organizer of a group show I'm in over in Austin, TX, and it was a link to a review of the show from the arts section of the Austin Chronicle. I was happy to read it, hoping to maybe see my name mentioned or something as one of the participants. That would mean that I could put it in the sadly lacking area of my resume titled "press". Or the hopefully soon to be category, since as of yet I haven't had press that counts. See, for it to be legit, it has to actually list your name. Why, I don't know, but it does. So far, every show that I've been in somehow skips me over in listing artists, they just choose a few and don't do a full list, or don't list anyone at all. Or there was the one time that I was seriously pissed to see that I even had my painting as the photo to the review, and no credit. I mean really, what kind of journalist does that? Do they know nothing of copyright, and um, good journalism ethics and all?

So I was SUPER excited to find that not only did they mention me, they used my picture! With credit! And even better? I WAS THE ARTIST THEY TALKED ABOUT. Its a whole review about how awesome my art was in the show! You know whats even better? The reviewer talked about how it is biblically themed, and "In this show of work from members of Texas Wax Arts, perhaps the most compelling and finely wrought [artworks] are Jennie Kimbrough's paintings illustrating Bible verses." Yep, its saying no matter what you think about Christianity, my paintings are very compelling. Yay! And since there is no reason to leave a post without an image from one of my pieces in the show, here's my personal favorite.

Proverbs 31:30

Encaustic on Panel

Its time for Christmas Cards! | Houston Christmas Photographer

2011-09-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

Galatians 6:7-9

2011-09-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

This painting was a long time in process. As you know, since I posted an in progress shot here. Back in February! And that was after I had been working on it a little while. Shame on me and my slow finishing of stuff.

I just couldn't get happy with it. There was always something that wasn't quite right, and I have a tendency to not let go until I make it right. So I painted on more wax, then I carved off wax, then I painted on more, then I carved some off, then I drew into it, then I carved that off. You get the idea. But finally I'm happy with it.

And now, a month or two after finishing it, I'm actually posting a picture up on my blog. I am so behind on stuff. I hate being that "behind on things blogger". That almost got inappropriate, but I added an "on things" to the quotations, and it was all good. No one would want to see that blog. If you don't know what I'm talking about, its probably better that way.

Anyway. Here is my newest piece of encaustic work, Galatians 6:7-9. In all its glowing yellowness that I love.

Galatians 6:7-9

14x11"

Generations together| Houston Family Photographer

2011-09-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Last month I had the opportunity to take photos of an awesome family that had brought in lots of extended family for some photos together. It was awesome to see so many generations together, and to see how everyone was related. It was probably about 101º that day, but they were all troopers and didn't complain about the sweltering heat (until after the shoot was finished). I took forever to post their photos for them, since I was gone for two weeks at the end of September and there just hasn't been enough time in the day lately. But, after a lot of waiting, finally they get a sneak peek! Aren't they gorgeous?

I especially think this little boy looks like a doll. Isn't he the cutest? What is it about blond hair blue eyes...

Such a cutie! | Pearland Baby Photographer

2011-09-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

I am so behind in blog posting! Let me tell you, this has been a crazy month (well, I guess its a new month now, so last month was crazy...) I started out with two photo shoots, and then before I got done with editing them etc, I went on a trip to Missouri (pictures will come later...) and I just totally forgot to post sneak peaks on my blog! So sad, since there are some awesome pictures. So that said, here is a sweet little baby who's pictures I was SO late taking. I was going to take them right after she was born, and then I got super super sick and it took me almost a month to actually get to take pictures! Her parents were so awesome, they chose to wait me out instead of me sending in a replacement photographer. They couldn't have known they would be waiting that long! So, after a long time waiting for me to take the pictures, and then a long time waiting for me to finish them, here is a little peek at a super cutie!

Mom and Dad visit the Orange Show | Family

2011-07-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my parents were in town, and we had a TON of stuff for them to do. But, instead we mostly just hung out at the house. We did get out once to go to one of my favorite Houston attractions, though. If you haven't been to the Orange Show, you need to go! It is so funky and cute. My parents appreciate architectural "folk art", or like what we like to call it, "a man with a vision and a cement mixer."

This man had quite a vision, and there is a lot of cement involved. And I love it! Its such a colorful and whimsical break to a suburban neighborhood. Yep, its just out there, surrounded by a bunch of houses. I could be neighbors with someone just like this! How weird would that be?

This is my mom. I get to see her a bunch this year, which I'm excited about. I always feel lucky when I get to see my parents more than once or twice a year, and this year I'll get to see mom at least three times, possibly four or more! Dad not as much, but still. Happy me.

This guy was one for details; he had a ton of beautiful tile work that he had done all around his Orange Show. I wish I had this at my house.

My parents spent the summer driving all over the place, and they also took a cruise of Alaska. Most of their summertime was spent in 60s and below weather, so once they got to where its actually hot again, they were a little miserable.

Check the self portrait. Haven't done one of those for a while, much less as a reflection in glass portrait. Kinda fun.

The rest of the time my parents were in town my dad did little projects around the house (he is super handy and helps us out whenever he comes to visit) and mom read a lot. And we watched a ton of movies! Of course, I was sick, still am, so its kinda nice that we mostly hung around the house.

Oh, and if you didn't notice, my dad is Santa Claus. A handyman Santa. Who wears weather and space shirts. Yep.

Girls Lunch

2011-07-19T14:09:00.000-07:00

Recently I had some friends over, and it was so much fun! Several of my girl friends have had babies lately, and since then we just haven't had time to get together very often. So I decided to have everyone over for lunch, and I need to do it again! Of course I have mostly pictures of babies here, because who wants pictures of adults when there's babies around? I should have taken more pictures, thats for sure, since I'm not in love with what I did take. But I wanted my friends to see I cared, and so I edited up a few anyway and here's some poorly captured cuteness.

Strawberry pie | Recipes

2011-07-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

For forth of July I made some awesome food. Did you know I like to cook? My husband fully appreciates that fact. Anyway, being a hamburger type holiday, I made some wonderful hamburgers out of one of our favorite cookbooks, the Bobby Flay Burgers Fries and Shakes cookbook. Since I want everyone to buy this book (no I'm not paid to say this, its just an awesomely tasty book) I won't reveal the recipe here. Plus, I didn't make it my own at all. Its all the genius of Bobby Flay, and let me tell you, thats some tasty burger. And home made onion rings. To die for. Anyway. The other thing I made was some strawberry pie.

Its been strawberry season here for a while, but I still haven't gotten tired of them. So I decided to make them in pie form, from a recipe that my sister gave me. I didn't change this at all either, but since I don't have a cookbook to sell you on, I feel 100% ok on giving this recipe out for free.

What you'll need:

1 quart strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
Cooked Pie Crust (I made mine from scratch, but store bought is fine)

What to do:

Slice your strawberries. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a 2 quart saucepan; stir in water. Add *1 cup* cut up berries, stir over medium heat until thick and clear. Remove from heat and let berry mixture cool. Stir in the rest of the sliced berries, pour everything into the pie shell, and chill overnight. About an hour before eating, top with whipped cream.

Mine didn't get whipped cream, Nathan isn't a fan, and I didn't feel like whipping some up just for me. And I lacked any in a can or cool whip. So I suffered. Oh, it was awful, eating all that pie. But I did it just for Nathan. Yep, just for Nathan.

Photoshop before and after | Houston Photographer

2011-06-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

I love taking pictures, and I know enough about photography to have them look pretty good right out of the camera. I am the first to admit that they are far from technically perfect, I have a lot more to learn and a lot that I'm not good at paying attention to. Natural reflectors? I totally never even notice them, and them I'm all disappointed when the light isn't perfect. I have yet to grow. Anyway. I try not to use photoshop to fix mistakes I make, but instead to enhance photographs that I know are already good. So I'm going to share a photoshop "before and after". This is from a recent session, and I absolutely LOVE all the images I captured of this cutie! This is one of my favorites.

Right out of the camera I had the right exposure, the right composition, and a seriously cute baby. But, then I do some photoshop magic, and it just glows. There is something that photoshop can do with color that makes photos feel magical. That little splash of magic is what I like best about being a photographer. And thats why I only offer clients 20-30 photos per session. I want every photo that I offer to be given my 100%, and that means more than just a sharpen and some color clarity. It takes me a little time. But its totally worth it to get some cuteness like this.

Rescue | Houston Painter

2011-06-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

So I have different ways that I make art. I paint with acrylics, I draw, I do mixed media work, I paint with encaustics. I also really do a wide range of sizes, styles, etc. I am not the most eclectic artist out there, but I definitely don't just have one "thing" that I do. But I do have one thing I do best, and thats paint large acrylic figures. They are life size, the paint application is loose in transparent, drippy layers, and I never paint in realistic color. My latest series of these large paintings are actually in tones of grey, unusual for me. I love me some color. If you remember, the first is this painting, which I finished a while ago, and posted an in progress blog so you can see my painting process.

Anticipation

80x36"

2010

The next is this painting, which is a current kinda-favorite of mine. (Its hard for me to pick favorites, but I do really like this one. Too bad its sitting on its end in my hallway instead of hanging up somewhere... My house is categorically too small for me to paint this big.) I feel like I'm getting in a new place, four figures in one painting. That takes almost four times as long, believe it or not.

Waiting

36x80"

2010

Nows where things get crazy. I was ready to make the third in the series, but I didn't know which way to go. I had an idea, but I just wasn't sold on the compisition. And I NEEDED to get going on this painting so I could submit it to an awesome competition (that I of course didn't get into. Yeah, hurry for nothing. But my awesome husband was proud of me because he was sure I was really close. He's super supportive.) So I did some brainstorming, and I ended up having to choose between two different compositions, one of which had a TON of people, and one that had... wait for it... no people at all.

I took a risk and went for the no people painting. I knew it would be faster, but there was a good chance I would crash and burn. Which I almost did... this is one of the fastest paintings I did, but one of the hardest. I'm great at people! I'm not good at chairs! So though this isn't the best painting I've ever done, but I like it. I love all the birds, I like the absence of people, which is kinda the point. I really pulled this one together, if you saw it in the middle stages you would think "man, that painting is not gonna make it." But it did! And here is my newest creation:

Rescue

36x80"

2011

My Husband is Awesome! | Houston Photographer

2011-06-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

So if you have never met my husband, this is him. He is awesome. As this post title proclaims. He is probably the sweetest man in the world, and he compliments me about 30 times a day. I could brag on him a lot, I mean really, I couldn't ask for someone to tell me "I love you," more often. Anyway, his sweetness to me is not the point of this post, just a good and distracting aside.

Anyway, if you haven't already noticed, my husband has the most beautiful long curly hair in the world. I mean girls would kill for this hair. These photos don't do it justice because it was still just a bit damp so it looks weird, but still pretty. His hair is even prettier than these photos show.

What makes my husband awesome is that he decided to donate his long beautiful hair to our church, and make it a fun way to raise money for our building project. How? Why let me tell you! For every $1000 donated specifically to his cut the hair fund, he would cut one inch of his hair. On stage on a Sunday. The goal of course was to buzz it, which our pastor was quite excited about, but that would have taken somewhere around $21,000. We made it to around $12,000, so thankfully, no buzz. Though that would have been way more fun to watch on stage, let me tell you. The crowd did love to watch this, anyway:

My husband, being an awesome video guy, cut together a video from last sunday that lets you see the

action.

Now I know for a fact that we personally don't have $12000 that we could have spared for the building project. And that my husband hates to cut his hair. I am so proud of him that he decided to donate his hair to help this cause, which, by the way, is an awesome story of God in itself.

I don't know that I could do it justice by just telling, so let me just preface with the fact that we are a debt free church, and we have been raising money for this building for five years. We were at the point were we needed 2.1 million in order to not stop construction, so everyone was praying to get to 2.1 million. It seemed like an insurmountable task. Now let me share another video.

Sagemont Church Living Proof Project Total Announcement from Sagemont Church on Vimeo.

Then after that date, we made another 1.2-1.3 million, to end around 4.7 million! We were thinking way too small, and God showed himself so big! I really am in love with my church right now. I just had to brag on them a little.

Well anyway, this blog post somehow got really long, how do I keep doing that? I must have a lot to say. Well, I also have a lot to paint, so I need to get going. This painting's not going to get done by itself, and it needs to be done by tomorrow morning. So yeah. Time crunch!

Photography is a contact sport! | Houston Photographer

2011-06-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

Man its been a busy few weeks! And by busy I mean lots of going to the beach and shopping with my awesome mother-in-law. Yeah, life is rough around here. Thats my awesome excuse for not blogging about this sooner, I had company. And who wants to blog when there are visitors in town? But, now that life is back to normal, which means lots of drawing/painting and photography to work on, I can tell you about the trials and tribulations of being a photographer. And by that I mean the bruises. Lots of bruises.

First, let me tell you how I take pictures. Most non-photographers take pictures from a fully vertical position. With the help of media, now people know that its better to get down where your subject is, which means most people now kinda bend down a little. Not me. I'm dedicated. I don't just bend down, I don't just kinda kneel, I spend almost all my time at a photo session on the ground. Grass stains have become my friend. As well as bruises, apparently. This is what my knees looked like after having two photo sessions two days in a row.

This picture doesn't do justice to how much these bruises hurt. Or how often my loving and very affectionate husband grabbed them. Thankfully, they are gone now. But it did take a while. Painting never gave me bruises this bad. Just sayin.

Color Crush | Houston Maternity Photographer

2011-05-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

I've gotta say. I love maternity sessions. Pregnant bellies are just so.... pretty. I mean look at how beautiful this girl is! I am in love with these photos! Though part of it is the color combinations, I can't lie. One way I know for sure I'm an artist is because I get a crush on colors. I really do! When I see a color combination that I am really in love with at the moment, I get that little feeling inside thats the same as when I used to see a person I had a crush on. That giddy little fluttery feeling. One of the color combinations that I love is non-christmas related red and green. In love!

How sweet is this couple? Its kind of like a storybook setting, all dreamy like. You would never guess we were right next to downtown! I love this park! I seem to love a lot of stuff lately... maternity sessions, red and green, this couple, this park. You might get the impression that I just love a lot of stuff. It could be accurate. Maybe...

All families should be this pretty | Houston Family Photographer

2011-05-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

I probably always say this, but the family I just photographed this weekend was AWESOME. Absolutely gorgeous, and so nice it almost hurts. Though I consider myself a painter first and a photographer second, I so love this job. I get to meet such great people, and then when I get home I spend some time really making them sparkle. I love the sparkle. And don't these guys just sparkle like nobody's business?

I'm pretty sure these kids were cut out for being in magazines or something. I mean look at that little girls hair. Jealous much?

In other news, or I guess not as much news as random ramblings, I've been thinking about my blogging habits and lack thereof. I want to work on blogging more, and putting more of my personality on here. I've always felt kind of like I don't have anything interesting about myself that anyone wants to read, so what exactly am I going to write about? Thats why I stick with "these are the paintings I've done, these are the pictures I've taken." And of course thats what my blog is mainly about. My artistic stuff. But just because I'm not generally good at talking about myself (ask my husband, drives him crazy) doesn't mean I shouldn't try to make a habit of it, someone might actually be interested. I know one of my friends who writes a food blog, but she also posts what books she's reading and random outfit posts. I like her random outfit posts as much as I like reading recipes.

So I was thinking to try and remember to take pictures of particularly tasty things I cook. Since I love to cook. And fun things to go and do in Houston, since we are full of fun things to do. Granted, this all supposes I'll be good at keeping on task, and one thing I know is that I'm not good at that. But I'll try and make a habit, and then it will stick. As habits generally do. What types of blog features do you like to read?

2011-05-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I participated in a fundraiser for human trafficking, as I talked about in this post. And this one. But I never got around to telling you all what my titles were, or showing you the second drawing I did. Now that my out of town guests are gone, or at least round one of out of town guests are gone, I'm sneaking in a quick post to show off my latest drawing, which I am happy has a new home.

First, remember this piece? With previously no title? Well, it acquired a title just in time to acquire a new home. I hope its new owners are in love with it, because I am a bit in love with it myself.

Freedom From This City of Oppression

22x30"

SOLD

This one is the one I haven't shared yet. So you know, how this is constructed is lots of rectangular sheets of velum which I transferred a drawing of a man onto, then sewed them onto a larger piece of paper overlapping each other. Stuff like that is harder to tell in a picture, the three-dimensionality just doesn't show through. I like how these pieces kinda flutter in the breeze when you walk by.

Cut Away My Modern Slavery

30x22"

SOLD

So this week is going to be full of busyness, then my mother-in-law comes into town for a while. I always have a lot of fun spending time with her, and we'll get to tour around a lot, but work will not be whats getting done, thats for sure. So unless I get around to another blog between now and then, it will be June before productivity happens.

All things art! | Houston Artist

2011-05-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have all KINDS of art stuff going on. I always remember to post about when I finish a piece, but I never remember to post about when I have shows, or how they went, or when stuff sold, etc. Nathan was getting on me about it the other day, because he's so proud of me and how I'm doing this year he wanted to make sure I took a few minutes and bragged on myself. Which is SO hard for me, I am very much the "please lets talk about anything but me," person. But, just for Nathan, a short list of all the doings I've had in the last few months.

First off, remember the show I had last October out in L.A.? While I was there they did interviews with all the artists, and I finally have mine posted for all to see! I personally hate watching myself on video, but love watching my friends, so far all my friends out there, here is a video about how the church has responded to my artwork.

Also, last month I had three pieces in a show out in New Jersey, which I was super excited about! They were three of my encaustics, 1 Corinthians 15:50, Jeremiah 17:5, and Proverbs 5:22-23, being small and easy to ship.

1 Corinthians 15:50

Jeremiah 17:5

Proverbs 5:22-23

I now have them safely back in my care, and am about to take a fourth encaustic to a show

in Columbus, TX, this weekend. The show opens May 14 from 4 to 6 at Live Oak Art Center. My piece Psalm 73:26 will be in the show.

Psalm 73:26

Also, the benefit for human trafficking I donated two pieces to, Stop the Traffick, that happened last weekend went really well last week. They rose $1600 total to help women in Houston leave sex trafficking situations and get their lives back on track! And they sold all three pieces of artwork that were up for silent auction after the show, my two and one other. I'm going to have to do another post soon to show a picture of the second piece, since I finished it just the day or so before the show and didn't get a chance to blog about it. I really love it, and I hope its new family loves it too!

So thats my extensive post about whats going on art-wise in my life. I know it sounds like a lot, but its not enough! Artworld, here I come!

Baby girls are so precious! | Houston Newborn Photographer

2011-05-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

Those maternity pictures I posted a few weeks ago? They turned into a precious baby girl! She was awesome, slept the WHOLE time. She's just a sleepy little pumpkin! Note to self: photograph babies in pumpkins this fall, how precious would that be? Babies may have their own challenges in photographing, but I sure love to dress them up and have props with them. Plus, an adult in this little animal onesie and striped leggings would look ridiculous, but a baby? Precious! Extra cute!

And I absolutely adore this little smile! Who ever saw such a big grin on such a little girl?

For all you photographers out there | Photography Giveaway

2011-04-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

So if you are a photographer, you probably like free stuff. And Crave Photography is giving away A LOT of free stuff! An all expenses paid (yeah, all expenses... including airfare!) private photography workshop, and a bunch of freebies from some awesome vendors! Check it out on the Crave Photography Blog before April 26th to get in on the chance to win!

(Photo Source)

I need a title... any ideas? | Houston Artist

2011-04-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year I was asked to participate in a fundraiser for human trafficking for Redeemed Ministries, and I shared a peek of this piece while it was in progress. Well, one piece finished, one still in progress! The only thing this piece doesn't have is a title... I just can't think of what will accurately portray what I want to say through a few words. I feel like titles should give some type of glimpse into the piece, and this one I want to tell a bit of why I made it, and what the symbols are. i don't know, I think I over-think these things.

"Untitled (currently)" 22x30"

In this piece I wanted to talk about the proliferation of human trafficking (i.e. a new word for slavery) in our city today, as well as the possibility of freedom, but also the difficulties of freeing just one. Choosing symbols that indicate historical slavery and bringing them in juxtaposition with the modern in a cityscape I set the stage for a visual reading of the costly freedom that we can bring just one. This is one of those pieces that I am very happy with, it is visually exactly what I want, yet its a little difficult. Its not pretty in the traditional sense. It kinda hurts. I sometimes do that; artwork for me needs to say what I have inside to say, and if it says it in a painful fashion, than thats what happens. I don't pretty it up so that people are more likely to want it in their living room.

The only problem with that is that this being a fundraiser, I've made it a little bit harder for people to want to buy my work. But they want work about human trafficking, I can't be true to that and make something pretty. Because the process to freedom isn't pretty. But hopefully I can help with what I'm gifted at doing, as I know a lot of others are working hard to put on this show to help with their gifts. So if you live in the Houston area, come to Sagemont Church on April 30th and bid on the silent auction for my artwork along with artwork from another extremely talented artist. It should be an amazing experience full of dance, music, and more. I'm excited! Stay tuned for the second piece to be put up for auction...

AdventureLand office photos | Friendswood Child Photographer

2011-04-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

When I said I would get the pictures I took for my church's children's department's office's (thats a lot of apostrophes...) posted soon, who knew it would be so soon! But I just kept on plugging away at it today, and here are some seriously cute children to look at. And possibly smile at, because who doesn't smile at baby smiles... they are akin to contagious laughter.

A new belly bump | Houston Maternity Photographer

2011-04-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I got to take photos of my last pregnant friend in Houston! Granted, I still have lots of pregnant acquaintances, and a pregnant sister up in Missouri, but this is the last of the major pregnant wave, which I'm sure will start again in a few months, knowing our age. Though at the moment, it seems we've moved from pregnant to weddings! Now everyone I know is getting married! Its a year of excitement around here, thats for sure.

This friend is one who is one of those pregnant women that it takes about 8 months to be able to tell she's even pregnant. She looks absolutely awesome, and was so beautiful to take pictures of. I really think maternity photos are some of my favorite.

I mean really! How gorgeous is she! And don't they look great together? I just keep getting such good looking couples. I am one lucky photographer.

If I'm a good blogger and not all lazy like I've been in the last two weeks, I'll get pictures up of my shoot for the children's department of our church, as well as our trip to Honduras. Which was awesome. If you've never been on a mission trip, it truly is one of the best ways to spend your time. Pictures to come.

I got a new desk! | Houston Photographer at Home

2011-03-03T10:38:00.000-08:00

This last weekend was a big auction at Sagemont (our church) and I went knowing that everything I wanted would be too expensive. They had some of the cutest things that I thought would be awesome props for baby and little kid photo shoots! But, as I said, other people saw how awesome they were, and make it so they were totally out of my price range. Little did I know I would come home with something after all! A new desk! I'm so excited, I've hated my desk for a while. It was too small, it was just open shelves instead of drawers so it was always cluttered looking, in short, it just didn't work for me. So here is a before... (way before, this was from right after we moved in...)

and after! With my gorgeous husband modeling its awesome functionality. Yep, way better desk. Yay for $20 buying you way more than it should.

1Corinthians 15:50 | Houston Artist

2011-02-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

This piece I just finished is yet another one that I had *mostly* done for a while, but just couldn't get that last finishing touch on. Apparently thats the story of my life with this body of work. I love it because I feel like its a series that needs to be made, but man, each piece is like pulling teeth. Its not easy for me like the large figurative paintings. Those I can do in my sleep, practically. I guess we all need a challenge.

Anyway, This piece is about the separation of the flesh from the kingdom of God. I guess there is a lot I can say about this piece, about heaven and our inheritance and how our flesh both in the physical and the metaphorical sense have no part in it; but I don't know. I'm not feeling all talky today. Its not one of those days.

1 Corinthians 15:50

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

In other news, the Sagemont auction was this weekend. That would be the big auction that our church had as a fundraiser. I had a piece for sale in it, and it now has a new owner, which I am happy about. It was a piece that was dear to my heart, and I worked very hard on, but the only good picture I have is a detail shot. This is my quilt I made, I don't think I ever gave it a title. Its made of white fabrics with scripture painted or drawn on each block. Its about God giving us his Word and our understanding of it, as well as the function of the Word as our safety, and security. I really like the idea of being able to wrap oneself in the word of God. Not that I made it to go on a bed, its a wall hanging quilt. So someone out there has one big wall. I'm sure it will look amazing.

Untitled

Works in Progress | Houston Artist

2011-02-21T12:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my awesome husband and his organizational life skills and making a handy schedule for me, I've had a lot more time to spend in the studio in the last week or so. Which means lots of pieces in progress. I thought I would share a little peak at what I've got going on right now.

This first piece is a drawing I'm making for a fundraiser for Redeemed Ministries, organized by the highly talented Amber Whiddon, a dancer and all over amazing lady. The event is on April 30th at Sagemont Church at 7:00 pm, please come and support! You can find more information here.

This next piece is an encaustic I've been struggling over for the last month or few, called Galatians 6:7-9. I'm getting close to finishing it, but it just doesn't sparkle yet, so its still in progress. I have been working on both these pieces today, in fact. And will probably work on them some more... if I can ever tear myself away from doing computer stuff. I think thats after this blog. Yep more studio time right after this blog. I do love studio time. Its my favorite time of year, kinda like Christmas, but without the presents.

Jeremiah 17:5 | Houston Artist

2011-02-17T09:53:00.000-08:00

I did this piece a while ago, and I just didn't like it. It was a mess. Sometimes that happens when I image collage type pieces. Ok, who am I kidding, that almost always happens when I do image layering. I love that type of work, but its not my strong suit. So I keep trying it, and I keep not doing the best. So anyway, a long time ago I made this piece, and it sat in my studio, staring at me, saying, "I'm not quite right. Work some more on me." But I didn't know how to fix it, I didn't know what to add.

But anyone who knows anything about encaustic knows that the beauty of the material is that you can subtract instead of add, which is what I ended up doing. I started just carving away, taking off layer after layer of wax that I'd put on and made a mess with. And now I'm satisfied, I can call this piece finished. So I introduce to you my latest piece:

Jeremiah 17:5

"Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and who's heart turns away from the LORD."

This last week has been awesome because thanks to my awesome husband helping me with figuring out time management, I've gotten to spend a lot more time in my studio. And I am so in love with being a painter. It really is what I am supposed to be doing, and I wasn't allowing myself enough time to focus on my artwork, but thats all changing. Time for art, time for photography, time for Nathan. Life is good. Prepare to see more paintings and drawings coming up soon.

A little drop of cuteness | Houston Baby Photographer

2011-02-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

If you don't know me well, you may not know that due to some medical conditions I'm not able to pick up much weight, and have to be careful about how I lift stuff. Which often means not playing with children or babies. Which when I'm confronted with serious cuteness like what you see here, is so hard to resist. I mean really, how do you not just snuggle that?

I don't know what it is about blue eyes that are extra special, but man do they sparkle. I do know what it is about babies who laugh and smile constantly. Its something that needs to be bottled and sold; we'd all be a lot happier people if we could just open up a bottle of baby giggles when we get the grumps.

Though looking at baby cuteness is almost as good. Nathan says I have (and he's correct in this observation) an "isn't that adorable" looking at baby things voice and laugh. I think babies in tutus possibly have twice the baby adorableness quotient. They just make me feel good inside. Good thing I can't pick up a picture, because man do I want to snuggle that little baby right now.

The most beautiful family! | Houston Family Photographer

2011-02-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

Let me just say that I love this family. And I loved taking their photos. I know from reading other photographers blogs that saying that is a bit cliche, but I really mean it. These people are beautiful, and people like this family is why I take pictures.

I mean really, can you imagine a family more in love? I love seeing them interact. Plus there was quite a bit of sword fighting with sticks. How much fun!

I can't wait to keep editing this awesome session, I just wanted to share a full sneak peek!

I couldn't wait! | Houston Family Photographer

2011-02-08T07:09:00.000-08:00

So usually after a photography session, I edit up about five photos in the next week to put up on my blog and facebook so the family can see how awesome they looked while I was snapping away and they were telling their kids not to throw sticks at me. But for the last (two in one) shoot I did, I just couldn't wait. The pictures were too cute. The family was too beautiful. I had to have a sneak peek to the sneak peek.

So this awesome family helped me out when I was just getting started and practicing and let me come out and take a ton of pictures of them to get my photo shooting feet under me before I declared myself a photographer. This year they invited me back to do a back to back shoot of the most adorable baby (I might say that a lot, but I almost always believe its true) and then one of the whole family. It was a fun day with an awesome family. Which ended with amazing pictures. I mean look at this little cutie!

And I almost didn't get these gas tanks for a background, but my husband (who came on the first shoot ever with me) said hey, why don't we drive that way, and ta da, an amazing photo backdrop was born. They are my favorite. Too bad this location isn't closer, or I would use it all the time. Wait till you see the pictures I took on the hay bailer... pretty freakin beautiful. But I don't think this family can help it. I mean look at them. Jealous much?

Kelly Moore Giveaway!

2011-01-31T09:44:00.000-08:00

So I have been busy lately with editing pictures and reading blogs about how to be a better photographer, and know what I came across? An awesome giveaway for a camera bag that I can drool over. I love the functionality of my bag, but lets face it. Its ugly. And these bags are.... mmmmm tasty. The girl in me really wants one that looks like a purse, but when we're traveling Nathan will be traveling, so the practical side of me needs to get one of the man-bags. Which are also beautiful. Who else wants a really awesome camera bag? I know you're out there! If you want to participate in this giveaway, visit the MCP Actions Blog for more details. And if you win, I can be totally jealous.

Waiting..... (again) | Houston Artist

2011-01-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

So a while ago I showed you the following painting, and had titled it "Waiting". Which I later changed to "Anticipation", since I was working on another painting that I wanted to title "Waiting". And it just fit better.

"Anticipation"

Acrylic on Panel

I wanted to remind you of that painting, since it was the first in the series that this new one, titled "Waiting," (how did you guess?) belongs to.

When I started this painting I knew exactly what I was going to do, I just needed a photo of four people sitting in a row to work from. And I just kept putting off finding four people and making them sit in a row until I saw that there was a show that I wanted to enter the painting into, and so I was like "hey, I should hurry this up, get a photo taken and get to work." I took the photo on a Sunday, and I worked like crazy all week (it was lovely) without getting too crazy, since if I mess up I can't redo. I just have to hope I catch it quick while the paint is wet and I can sop it up. But since the paint only stays nice and wet for max like 10 minutes, that means no mistakes.

Here's where I'm going to put a short aside about my working process. In case you missed it in my earlier post about my working process. And in case you care. If you don't, skip to the next paragraph. Anyway; I paint in a lot of transparent layers with acrylics, and without a lot of blending. What that means is that you can see every layer of paint I put on, all the way back to the background (which is often obviously visible, in this case bible pages), so I can't paint over big mistakes (which means no painting tired, angry, or distracted) because all my paint is transparent. I mess up, I have to begin the entire thing again. And who wants to do that? Being acrylic means I can work fast, each painting takes way less time because I only have to wait like 20 min between layers instead of a day or two, but it also means if its wrong, I have to figure it out fast and wipe it off, because otherwise too bad for me. On the bright side, I also paint kinda squishy and loose, so I don't have to worry as much about fine details. I didn't make my life that hard after all. That was a lot of run-on sentences. Sorry Mrs. Jones.

Anyway, my not so short aside over, I worked really hard without working tired, angry, or distracted too often to try and get the painting finished and ready to go by Saturday. If I had been doing the painting seen above, it would have happened. But what I didn't factor in when I thought, "I can totally do this," was that four figures is approximately four times as time consuming to paint as one. Granted, take some time off for there not being any faces, but still. If it was one figure and a bunch of background, easy-peasy. Four figures? I was about five hours of work off the mark. To which I said, "Darn!" and then slowed up my work schedule and leisurely finished it up, then took a long time to take a photo of it, and now am finally getting it up on my blog. And now if I could just figure out where to put it in my house. I need a bigger house. Or at least one with more walls. Even better, I should sell some of my art. Why is it again that I paint so big? Oh yeah. Because I love it.

"Waiting"

Acrylic on Panel

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Tiny Tutu! | Pearland Baby Photographer

2011-01-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

Oh my word is she not the cutest thing you've ever seen! I mean really. Ok, so the new camera did help in me making her look extra adorable, but I think the tutu and the pearls were geneous on my part. Because, yes, she is precious. I just want to eat her up like chocolate. And now I need some chocolate. And of course I have some! I shall be right back... please feel free to view some adorableness while I go take a chocolate break.

Ok now you need a break from all this cuteness. Too much cuteness causes hyperventilation. Its scientifically proven.

I want to say congrats to my friends Preston and Jenny on the birth of their little girl! She was wonderful as a model, its as if the camera loves her, and she loves the camera. With this cutie, I've decided that the baby invasion has officially begun! Hopefully this means I get to dress more babies up in tutus... and as Nathan says, since I have so many friends with babies, I can now have a lot of baby snuggle time. Without having to change diapers. Sounds like a sweet deal. Now if only my sisters babies were closer so I could snuggle them too... then baby snuggledom would be perfect.

So, speaking of snuggle time, here are a few beautiful snuggle pictures.

And one last tutu. I really love these. I mean who could not. Seriously, they might not have hearts.

Family time- BIG time! | Clear Lake Family Photographer

2011-01-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday I had a fun and new experience: the big family shoot! Someone we know from church had their whole family (and it's a big one) in town for the new year, and then realized they didn't have a photographer to take family photos! So of course when she called me, I was happily said I would do it! And then I realized I had just sold my old camera in order to buy a new one... (excitement! more later about this!) so how professional did I sound, "Yes, I would love to take your photos! Let me just find a camera to borrow....

But as it just so happens, a friend just bought an amazing camera (jealous... its even better than the one I bought, and he's not even a photographer!) and since he's probably the nicest person on the planet... literally, no kidding on how nice he is, he let me borrow it, and volunteered to be my assistant for the day and everything! So, I was set. And how much fun! And what a big family! Thats what happens when you have six kids and they start becoming adults and having kids of their own, I guess. So me, Austin (friend with camera) and the 17 of them met up at a beautiful park on a beautiful 65º Texas winters day, and tried to reign in chaos! And I got some great pictures at the same time. Look how gorgeous these people are! and they're all looking at the camera and smiling and everything!

It of course was super important to have family pics done because these members of the family are shipping out with the military in just days, and will be gone for three years. With babies, thats like an eternity! Pictures need to happen now while they can! I have nephews I only get to see once or twice a year, and its like its forever! BTW, don't they just look like the perfect little family here? I just love this candid little shot while they were setting themselves up to get the "real" pictures taken.

This family must have their pictures taken a lot, because all I had to do was say, "Your turn! I'm going to have you guys sitting," and they just got in this pose and smiled nice! I didn't even have time to get ready before they were posed perfectly. Practically a photographers dream.

And of course these two just look beautiful together. I love how you can see the family resemblance. And the curly hair! If you knew my husband, you might be able to guess that I have a special spot for curly hair...

Man do I wish my grandparents had been this fun. I love that they were up for whatever. Can you tell I had fun too?

So, as it seems I'm super chatty today, I'll wrap this up with being super chatty about my awesome new camera. I am in love! I bought a Canon 60-D, and though I haven't taken a whole lot of pictures yet, I can already tell that it blows my old camera out of the water. And my new lens has an image stabilizer in it, which mean less camera shake, fewer fuzzy pictures, and I can take lower light pictures without worrying! Its an amazing innovation. And of course Nathan is excited because it has video capabilities that look really good. Now I just need to go out and play with my new toy!

More Belly Bumps! | Pearland Maternity Photographer

2010-12-31T12:09:00.000-08:00

Have I told you before that almost all my friends are pregnant? Or at least were pregnant until recently? I'm pretty sure this is literally true. Nathan and I have found that when one person has a baby, at least one more announces that they are expecting. What does that mean for me? Lots of maternity photos! For as much as I found the sweet baby photos from my last post frustrating to take, I really love taking maternity photos. Happy couples, beautiful women, and fun poses that you just can't do any other time. Like tying a pink ribbon around your belly. That just won't work when you're not pregnant.

I'm pretty sure having a guy kiss a girls belly is a little weird except in pregnancy situations as well. But with a baby in there? Totally sweet!

I was so excited to take photos of these beautiful friends of mine, and now I'm excited to meet their little girl, Madison! And she's probably going to be the first one photographed with my new baby, a Canon 60-D camera! Thats my big news, I bought myself a camera for Christmas. Merry Christmas to me! It will be showing up sometime next week, and then I get to have lots of fun learning all its awesome new features. How exciting! Preston and Jenny get a new baby, I get a new camera, and everyone gets great pictures!

Finally photos! | Houston Family Photographer

2010-12-23T08:16:00.000-08:00

I took photos of these kids back in August, before I was "officially" a photographer... which basicly means before I had gone to the city of Houston and said "Hey, I'm a photographer. Give me some paperwork to prove it." We have been meaning to take pictures of the family ever since.

So finally, in December, photos were taken. And they were good. Granted, its hard not to take good photos of this family; their kids are well behaved and outgoing, the parents are great, I mean really. What more do I need? An awesome location? Yes please.

This park is really nothing to look at. I mean nothing. Its pretty puny. I mean small. And a little ugly. But as far as a photography location, its full of tiny little nooks that make great pictures. I think you have to be an artist to see it, because if I was a family who drove forever to come out to this park instead of going to one closer in that on the surface looks way cooler, I would question my judgement. But this park has a great spot with long grass and trees behind it where othere parks don't.

And some awesome spanish moss, and a little wooden fence that is just adorable. And as all parks have, a good open grassy spot.

And the all important playground. It has some other really cute stuff that didn't make it into the shots here, too. Which makes it one of the places I'll continue to make people drive forever for. And it will continue to help make families look beautiful. Not that this family needed a whole ton of help.

Sweet Baby! | Houston Baby Photographer

2010-12-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

So you know those maternity photos in the last post? Well, this is the little cutie that was born two days later. Its taken me a while to get pictures up of him because the first photo shoot I did I just wasn't 100% satisfied, so we scheduled a second, and now I've got more great shots than I know what to do with.

My two biggest problems with my first shoot were that before I even started taking pictures my bulb blew, so lighting was a problem, and secondly the poor little guy just didn't like having his cloths off. And who doesn't know that naked baby pictures are the best? He was just modest. He's gotten over it, though. Now he's willing to show it all off, he just doesn't want to sleep.

Babies. They just never do what you want them to. But on the positive hand, its hard for them to not be cute. So even when nothing goes as planned, they're still as cute as a button.

Maternity Shoot | Houston Maternity Photographer

2010-11-28T06:37:00.000-08:00

My first maternity shoot, I was very excited for it because it was for my really good friends Cristen and Jonathan. The only problem was, we were both so busy we couldn't get our schedules together to actually take these pictures till the last minute; baby Lincoln was born only two days later! Thats what I call cutting it close. When it comes to maternity, there is a definite time table to meet, and I barely made it! But on the bright side, they are a gorgeous couple, so it was easy to get great shots of them. Here are a few of my favorites.

And since Lincoln was just born, I just got to take my first newborn photos! He was adorable, even though he was not cooperative at all. They might just have the cutest baby ever, though. So there will be photos of him soon to come.

A Painting in Progress | Houston Artist

2010-11-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

So I made this painting a while ago, and while I was making it I took pictures occasionally to document the process. I always meant to blog it, and being a lazy blogger, I never did. So finally here I am, letting you see a bit about how I build a painting. If you want to see my original blog about the painting and what its about, look here.

The picture quality isn't up to par, but they were just snapshots in my studio, and I didn't feel like trying to clean them up, especially since the lighting is dreadfully uneven. How I paint like that, no one knows. So I apologize for the lousiness of the pictures ahead of time, but I thought it would be a fun project to let you see how I make a painting.

first I did the background treatment, which I didn't get a pic of just that; I pasted bible pages from Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Revelation on the panel. Then I did a really rough sketch.

I added more detail to the sketch, so I would know where everything was when I started to paint. How I paint is very transparent, so if I misplace something, sometimes its very hard to fix. Occasionally it can be done; after I was totally finished with this painting I noticed I had her chin all wacky, and I was able to fix it. But thats not always the case. So thats why I need a good sketch underneath and don't just go in and start painting right away. If I mess up, that mess up is permanent, I can't just paint over it.

Once I get the sketch how I like, I beat it with a cloth to remove the excess charcoal so it doesn't get all in my paint and make it muddy, but I can still see what I drew. I love how flexible vine charcoal is, because I can completely erase it if I don't like it, or I can just make it a ghost drawing to paint over.

Then I just start in on painting. I paint in lots of layers, and I use a lot of really wet and drippy paint. Its a really fun way to paint, very loose. Granted, I imagine most painters think the way they paint is fun, or they wouldn't paint that way.

So then I was finished except for the final step of adding the birds, taking pictures, and naming the piece.

The birds are printed pages from the scriptures that reference the rapture and those surrounding those references. Gluing them on was a bit of an ordeal, but I got them to stick. Then came the name. I first named this piece Waiting, but I was never totally satisfied with that name. And now, I want to give the name Waiting to another painting. And I have a better name for this piece. So I unveil its new and improved name: Anticipation. Much better name, I think. Soon I'll be able to show you the painting that the name Waiting went to. But you'll have to wait a bit.

Wow, what a busy month!

2010-11-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

October was such a crazy busy month, I can't believe it's November already! Here is a short overview of how our October went: left on the 8th, drove to Nathan's grandma's house, had a great day of visiting with her, drove to the Grand Canyon and got there on the 11th, then on the 12th we went to Las Vegas and went to Cirque du Soleil, which was awesome, then on to Los Angels the next day.

Then the 14th was set up for my show, the 15th was the show, 16th and 17th was Arts and Entertainment Minestries conference, and then we left that night and booked it back to Houston in order to get in late on the 19th. whew.

Then, we unpacked, packed again, and left at 5:30 in the morning to go to North Carolina where my grandpa's memorial service was. We got back on the 24th. Since then I've just been trying to not die from headaches and catch up on house cleaning and other business. All that traveling has taken a toll. That being said, it was a great month!! So many great things packed all into one month, and Its been so long since I've blogged, I have tons to blog about!

First: I decided I am officially open for business! Visit my website at JennieKimbroughPhotography.com to see some awesomeness. I put a lot of hours into making it just what I wanted, and I am pretty satisfied with how it turned out. Now for clients! Let the rush of business come in!
And since we are talking about photos; here are some great ones from a session I did before I left. Thanks so much to Jordan for her time and beauty; she was probably the easiest person ever to photograph!

Isn't she just beautiful? People like her just make the rest of us look bad, because she's just as beautiful inside as she is outside!

Second: My show! It was awesome! If you want to see a slideshow of some pics, here is a link: http://www.a-e-m.org/html/evening_of_art.html that is their official website. The photographer for the event was Amber Fox, a super talented photographer in the L.A. area. She also happened to be the wedding photographer for a high school friend of mine, Laura Rowland! Isn't it a small world?

I also met a lot of great artists who are all very talented and great Christian people, and through being part of the show and going to the conference I met Kengsen Chong, an artist and Pastor in Malaysia, and he invited me to be in a show he is curating in 2012! Now I just need to figure out what to make that is easy to ship to Malaysia....

Third: Grandpa's memorial service. The service wasn't anything to write home about, but it really was great to see family. We don't live close to any family, and though that has some positive aspects sometimes, I really do miss them sometimes. I wish I could hug on my nephews a whole lot more often, but with them living so far away, once a year is going to be a blessing, twice a year is practically unheard of! At least I get to see my parents a little more often, since they come to visit us several times a year.

While in North Carolina, Nathan decided to go into the ocean with his glasses on. He came out of the ocean with his glasses off. I saved the day by having decided to pack his spares. Needless to say, we bought new glasses the moment we got home. And he sure does look handsome.

Well, It is now officially time for dinner. And for once I don't know what we are having. I'm going to have to be creative tonight.... at least creativity is a specialty of mine.

p.s. in the next few weeks, as long as I can stay on top of business, i will be redesigning the blog to fit with my new branding. Something to look forward to!

My New Quilt | Houston Photographer

2010-09-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

I have been on the lookout for a quilt for a pictures prop for entirely too long. And finally, I found one! It was at an estate sale just down the street (which if you know how big the Houston area is, you can imagine how far away MOST estate sales are...) and It's just what I've been looking for. Colorful, basic, and not too expensive. Plus, I got it in time to use for my latest photo shoot with an absolutely BEAUTIFUL girl. She was super easy to photograph, she was so comfortable in front of the camera. Here is a little peak at her session; I have so many great photo's of her that I had a lot of trouble choosing what to edit! Thats a problem I like to have.

In other news, I have some great paintings that I'm close to finished with, posts soon to come. There is just so much good stuff going on right now!

Exciting Events | Houston Children's Photographer

2010-09-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

These last few weeks have been super busy for me; since the summer of visiting is over, I've spent a lot of time in my studio, and I've also been preparing for a new venture- owning my own photography business. I've really enjoyed taking photos for friends and family, and I feel like a natural step in my career is to do this as a "job". I put that in quotation marks because to me, it is just as much like a "job" as my painting is; it will be how I spend all my time and how I make money, but its so much fun its hard to consider it work most of the time.

Needless to say, in order to start a business off right takes a lot of work. Researching what I need in order to be legal, building a website, building my portfolio, coming up with marketing ideas and everything that goes along with it; its kind of a daunting task. Along with school just having started (I teach part time after school art and private lessons) and that being busier than ever as well, I have been so overwhelmed and excited with everything thats been going on that I have trouble going to sleep because of all the new ideas I keep coming up with once I get in bed. I am so close to being ready to "open my doors" (I'm starting out being based from home, so that is a figurative statement), I fully intend to have everything up and running and ready to go by the end of September.

So here's to future success; as a photographer, as an artist (again, yay for going to L.A.!) and as a teacher. Who knows how I'll fit it all in. And because all blog posts are better with pictures, here is a sneak peak at what I've been working on for some friends.

Andy and Mindy | Houston Family Photographer

2010-08-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

I finally finished editing the pictures I took of some friends at the beginning of last month. It's been such a crazy month, I just didn't have time to get to them till now! Its been a whole crazy summer, actually. I feel like I've been super busy and haven't gotten a single thing done. Except a lot of visiting! We saw my sister and her family, Nathan's brother and his wife, I got to go visit my parents, Nathan went to Tanzania, our friends Andy and Mindy came and visited with their little boy (pictured below) while Nathan was gone, and then right after he came home his mom came into town.

Whew! With all that visiting, no wonder I didn't get anything done! It was really good seeing everyone, touring around town, and going to the beach, but now its down to business. Some painting needs to get done. And some more picture taking. And hopefully soon I'll have a photography website up. And I thought I was gonna get stuff done this summer! I'll just have to settle for getting some stuff done this August...

There must be something intimidating about me as far as children are concerned or something, because Eli had stayed with me for a few days before we got to take pictures, and he STILL didn't want to have anything to do with me! I had to catch him unaware to get some good smiles from him. Most of what I got were frowns and pouty faces. Which were also cute.

Aren't they a beautiful family? I also am now in love with this spot to shoot, I'm sure you'll see it again soon. I'll have to be sure not to overuse it, or all my pictures will have a blue and yellow wall with bright orange red bricks. But that can't be all bad, seeing as its beautiful enough that it looks like it was done on purpose for a movie or something. Or made specifically for a photo backdrop. Now, off to clean the house some more and make some hopefully super tasty bbq chicken.

So Exciting!

2010-07-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

I just found out great news! I get the privilege of participating in the 7th annual Arts and Entertainment Show in conjunction with the Arts and Entertainment Institute this October! This is a great opportunity for me because I'll get to meet lots of other christian artists and entertainers, make some friends, and have great exposure for my work. Plus, I get to have five pieces in the show, so people will get a good understanding of the type of work I do. I'm so excited! Here are a few of the pieces that will be in the show:

Prov. 31:30

Living Water

Nathan and I get to make a vacation out of driving the work out to LA, we have lots of family and friends between here and there. Emma, if you are reading this, I am only a little mad you are moving from LA before we get to visit you. We also are going to go to the Grand Canyon; Nathan's never been before. I'm excited to see how he reacts to its incredible majesty!

Soon, oh so very soon, I'll have some pictures up of a family I shot recently. They are so beautiful! Even though I really consider myself a painter, I love taking photographs and capturing that perfect moment. If only there were more time in life, I could do both full time. Here's a little sneak peak at that photo session:

Aren't they beautiful? I can't wait to finish editing their pictures! I'm working on setting up photography as a *for real* business, getting a website, online purchasing, etc. How exciting is that? More soon on that front!

My family

2010-06-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am done editing the pictures from when my family was here. There were just so many cute ones, plus I was being extra hard on myself during the editing process that I got really bogged down. Here are a few of my favorites, but even for these I had trouble choosing.

My husband, as wonderful as he is, has a weakness. And its for children. In that he doesn't really like them. Especially babies. Can you tell? One of these days I'll probably have to tell him to suck it up because I want one. It doesn't hurt that I know he will love having a kid, even if he doesn't know that yet...

As much as I love Henry (eldest nephew) I have to say, Grayson might be the cutest baby in the world. I am only slightly biased, since he is not in fact mine, just related to me. Look at that little baby giggly face! It makes you wish he were chocolate so you could eat him right up.

This is my whole side of the family. We only got to all be together all of about 17 hrs because while on the road my parents had gotten the call that my grandpa was really sick, and they had to rush home to take care of him. He's doing better now, though; I'm pretty sure my grandpa is going to be the first immortal man. Anyways... because of the rush, we didn't have ideal picture taking conditions and only got in a few shots of all of us until squirmy (Henry) needed to get down and run around. I'm glad we could get in a family portrait, though. Who knows when the next time we'll all be in the same place at the same time is. Thats what happens when your family all lives across the country from each other.

When I was first going through my photos, I wasn't expecting this to be my favorite one of my sister's family. But something about it just works, and after some cropping and editing around on it, I really love it. She has such a beautiful family, and is a wonderful mother. She makes me proud.

We went to the aquarium, among other day trips, and while there Henry got to play in the fountain. As you can tell, he was very excited about it. Almost a little too excited....

And of course, with an extremely cute fat baby around who will loose his pudge by the next time I see him, I HAD to take some fat naked baby pictures. He'll thank me when he's older...

Waiting

2010-06-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

I would say I just finished this piece, but thats not quite true. I just hadn't gotten around to posting it yet. I don't know why I've been so behind in everything; I've just been a little overwhelmed and its made it so I haven't gotten stuff done on time.

This is the first piece in a new body of work for me that's about the rapture. I want to express our expectancy; its kind of like waiting for your love to come home, you know he is on his way, but you don't know when. In future pieces I will also express what it may be to suddenly not be here anymore, but in a split second on our way somewhere else. And that somewhere else is a true home. This is not. Really, there are so many subject matters I can cover in this body of work, its going to end up being somewhat large (both in painting size and number of paintings) and diverse. I'm really excited to see what each piece brings to the whole.

Waiting

36"x80"

Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll post pictures of my sister's visit. I didn't get as good of pics as I had hoped, but I still got a few great shots. Her kids are so cute it hurts!

Nathan's Brother Came to Town

2010-05-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my brother-in-law Matt and his wife Emily came to town for a few days. It was great seeing them and taking them around town a bit. Every time family visits we kinda wish they lived closer so we could spend more time together. While they were here we went out and took some pictures. This was my first experiment with putting the camera on a tripod and then running into the shot. Not the most fun way to take family pictures, but I got some good results.

Right after they left my sister and her family came to visit. I just started working on the huge number of pictures I took of them; their kids were so freakin cute that I overdid myself with photographs. I'm pretty sure I'll be sorry about that for the next week or two while I get them all edited. There is a post to come in the near future with all that cuteness.

Proverbs 5:22-23

2010-05-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

I've been having a lot of fun recently. Been having some good time in my studio; going to a lot of galleries; it's overall just been a good month. Which is good, since May is going to be crazy busy with guests coming. I finished this painting just in time for the application deadline to New American Paintings magazine. I have about no chance to get in, since its a well respected publication so every artist and their brother probably applied; but on the small chance my work does get published in there, it will be HUGE. Now I just have to wait till the end of May to find out. Could be worse. I'm going to go draw some now; soon I'll post some progress photos I've been taking of a painting I'm working on, just so you can see what it looks like from almost* start to finish.

*I didn't think to take photos until I was already in phase two. It's easy to see how phase one went, though, so its not the end of the world.

Psalm 73:26

2010-04-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this painting for a while; it's been almost done for what seems like forever, but it was never quite right. Finally I found that happy place that I call "finished". Tomorrow I'm going to spend some good quality time in my studio. I have several projects I'm excited about and lots of work to get done. It's a good problem to have.

The Outlaws

2010-03-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures a couple weekends ago, but then my parents came into town, and things got busy, so I'm just now getting to showing them off. I enjoy taking pictures of friends of mine because we get to go out to dinner afterwards. Its a good excuse for a double date.

Thanks Brittany and Jesse. I tried to find ones that made Jesse not look like a complete goober for you.

Proverbs 31:30

2010-03-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceptive, beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

This painting I had a little bit of a fight with myself about whether it was finished or not. My issue isn't as much if I think it looks good enough; I actually really love it, even though it somehow makes me uncomfortable. My big issue is that I don't know that anyone will get what I am wanting to say with the piece. Or, even better, if it in fact says what I intend. Couple that with the question of who is my audience, and I was just plain confused on where to go from this point.

To clarify; I am a painter who's driving force is the meaning behind the work. I have no problem with paintings that are made just for aesthetics, per-say, but I just don't work that way. I have a specific reason and meaning behind every piece that I make. Its like visual philosophy. So, I work on the balance between aesthetics and the conveyance of meaning.

In the body of work that this piece belongs in I am dealing with the mortality of our bodies, the fact that we break down, decay, and how that relates to our sinful nature, and conversely we have a heavenly nature that is eternal. This particular piece is based on Proverbs 31:30 (cited above). Though I think this bible passage could be seen as outside that umbrella, I feel like it breaks the idea into two separate parts; our sinful nature (charm, beauty) and our heavenly nature (fearing the Lord), and that essentially is what I want to talk about. So my original idea was to paint a woman who is around middle age and is feeling the effects of time (body decay=sinful nature) and how she would be examining herself, up close, in a mirror, assessing her wrinkles, pretty much just feeling the weight of her age.

I just don't know if any of these ideas come across. I don't feel her as looking in the mirror, aside from the hand gesture down at the bottom of the canvas pulling on her cheek. I could say something about how her gaze meeting the viewers gaze could put the viewer in the place of the mirror and therefore into her shoes, but I'm not convinced that it wouldn't just be a bunch of art talk making it sound like what I want to come across is coming across, when in reality it just isn't. I'm just too close to the piece to tell if that part of my idea was well executed or not. The second problem I had deciding if this piece is done or not is that even if I masterfully executed the fact that she is looking in a mirror, and therefore she is us, and she is feeling her age, that doesn't really point back to the true meaning of the piece, and my desire to honor God with what I do in my art. So my question was, even if I got part one of my idea across, what about the actual text that I'm talking about? What about her being a woman that fears the Lord? There is no question about it, as it is, just looking at the piece with no title, that is not evident. So is the title enough? If I just title a work Proverbs 31:30, does anyone get it? Or should I actually include the text, and print it over her face in some manner that could be visually pleasing but might ruin it and I can't undo it?

So that brought me to the question of audience. Who do I want to reach? Essentially the possible group splits in two, christians and non-christians. I am not even worried about am I trying to go for the upper class, lower class, average joe, art appreciator, etc. Am I looking for an audience with christians, or not? I really want to scream BOTH! I want them both. I want christians to look at my work and love it, I want them to see their God, connect with Him through my work, and understand at a different level about how we are made in His image as creators, and to celebrate that creativity. But I also want non-christians. I want them to see my work and possibly take a second look at the stereotype that they think christianity is. I want them to understand the spiritual side, the relevance to life, and the beauty inherent in God.

So if I print proverbs 31 on my painting, i've totally alienated the non-christians, but made a bunch of christians feel more connected and better understand where I'm coming from. But it would make a lot of non-christians automatically not want to look at my painting. I worried ( and still worry) that by even titling it Proverbs 31:30, I am still alienating a non-christian audience. But I refuse to totally take my beliefs out of a painting in order to make people comfortable. At least if I leave the scripture off the surface (at least in this case... since I very often include text in my paintings it still has a tendency to show up a lot) I would have an ultimately wider audience. Because who I really feel concerned with reaching are the non-christians; the only want to make both happy would be to lean towards non-christian without totally taking God out.

So obviously I decided to leave the painting as just a face, and let the title speak for the meaning. I do that a lot, so why should this be the exception. And now you know a little what my thought process is when I am creating my work.

Owens Family Photos

2010-03-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I took pictures for an awesome family that we know from church. I had to drive forever to get to their house, but it was totally worth it, because they live in a beautiful place to photograph.

I got some amazing shots, even though their kids were TOUGH. The little girl (who just turned two) was being a grump, and when she was cooperating the little cowboy turned shy.

I had a lot of fun, and even though I didn't get to pose them in any of the shots I had planned, I think the pictures turned out beautifully. I kinda want to go take more pictures, because they are just so fun to hang out with.

I have a website!

2010-03-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

I have been so super arty and productive lately. This last week I made a website, jenniekimbrough.com. I'm pretty happy with it, its not absolutely perfect, but I can't afford absolutely perfect. Too bad I am not a total renaissance woman and know how to do web design masterfully along with everything else I do. I also spent some good time going to several galleries around town, and I met some great people and found some awesome spaces that I plan on visiting more. I know Houston is no New York, but there really is a lot of culture, if you look for it. I love it here.

At home I've been able to really get into my studio, and I finally finished a commissioned piece that I was asked for ages ago. I just couldn't find the right idea for the longest time, and then I had surgery and spent a bunch of time not doing art or thinking about what I was going to make. I am super happy with the results though. I'm pretty sure the person who commissioned it was happy too.

Holy Holy Holy

sold

In other news, I am going to photograph a family tomorrow, and I am super excited. Except the part where i have to wake up REALLY early, because I have to get there around sunrise, and they live an hour away. I'm looking forward to it, though. So I'll have some good images up from that shoot soon. This really has been a great week! Hopefully next week is just as productive and good....

first "real" encaustic

2010-02-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

I am officially past experimentation and making artwork again! Its been a good couple of weeks; I got a new drafting table, a new camera bag, and have been feeling productive again. I'm really excited about my new toys; my new drafting table tilts at a high enough angle I can draw for an extended period of time without hurting my neck (Nathan says I am a delicate flower.... in other words, I hurt easily). My new camera bag straps over one shoulder, has a super convenient way to get to the camera without having to take the pack off, and fits everything perfectly. Its like christmas around here! Here is a picture of my new table:

And here is my newest painting:

I don't have a title for it yet, but I am very happy with what encaustics are doing for me. This is a great medium to play with. I'm excited for the projects I'm going to work on next!

Just playing around

2010-02-03T14:25:00.000-08:00

Today I have mostly been playing around trying to get a really nice soft B&W effect in photoshop. I'm about 90% there, and here is what I came up with.

Close to what I was going for, but if you want to see a really superb photo, look at this one. I think this is where I just need some practice, and possibly to invest in some professionally made actions instead of trying to just make my own. In other news, I am pretty close to finishing my first "real" encaustic painting, and I'm super excited to see how it turns out. So far its exactly what I'm going for. Pictures to come soon.

I've been away

2010-02-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

It has been way too long since I updated my blog. Life just got away from me there for a while. So, here is a quick recap of things I've been doing over the last eight months. After my show I decided I needed to spend the summer learning new skills, so I taught myself encaustics thanks to a lovely book titled Encaustic Workshop by Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch. Sadly the one good encaustic I made in my learning process I gave away before I took a picture. I also taught myself photoshop on lynda.com. So it was a busy summer of learning for me.

After that my headaches were getting really bad, so though I really wanted to work, all I was able to do was take a few pictures and continue on my photoshop skills. Thankfully in October I had surgery for my headaches, and it has helped tremendously. The downside of surgery is that its kept me from producing much work for the last three months.

So here we are now; I am finally getting back in my studio (partially thanks to an awesome new drafting desk that makes working much easier for me), I am ready to start taking photos as a side business, and I'm feeling better than I have since the car accident. Hopefully this year will be more productive than ever for me as an artist, and I can continue to expand my practice to incorporate new ideas, techniques and a new vision for myself and my art.

Here are a few photos that show what I've learned with photoshop and a little of the style I'm trying to create for myself as a photographer. Photography and computer graphics is a whole new art form for me, and I'm excited by what I'm able to do, as well as for the new direction photography is taking me.

This is our friend Beka who was kind enough to pose for me while I experimented with how to take good pictures.
And here is my husband, always a (kinda) willing subject who also is an amazing photographer. He and I like to go out and take pictures together just for fun. He primarily makes videos, which is why his photography skills are so strong. Can you tell I love him by the fact that I am telling you useless facts about him? He's so great....

Opening night

2009-05-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

My opening night went wonderfully last Friday. Lots of people came, I received a ton of positive feedback, and I actually sold stuff! It was by far my most successful opening reception. The gallery curator did a superb job putting the show together, much better than I would have come up with myself. Overall, putting the body of work together, and then see it come together in a gallery has been an extremely rewarding experience. I can't wait to do it all again.

Here are a few images from the opening. If you didn't get a chance to be there, but would want to see the show, its up until the 22 of June.

Artists Statement for my Show

2009-05-11T08:24:00.000-07:00

I wrote a more detailed artists statement for the work that is up right now at Xnihilo Gallery, and I thought I would share it with you.

Artists Statement for Quiet Grandeur body of work:

Daily we grow in our faith through communication with God. He speaks to us in both grand moments and quiet ones, all profoundly life changing. He gives us his Word, and the Holy Spirit, to affect our redemption, and our walk towards his perfection. We, in turn, communicate with him through daily acts of prayer and worship. We repetitively seek him, talk to him, beg him for his touch in our lives. And we thank him. For his love, for forgiveness, for mercy, and for the blessings that we are unworthy of.

In this body of work I am concerned with the act of communication between us, imperfect humans, and a holy God. Through scale and the method of representation, I show the differences between the way God speaks to us, and we to him. In my larger works, I deal with the God's method of communicating with humankind through the Holy Spirit and the Word. His touch on our lives is both grand, and personally affecting. His word is both imposing and intimate. I represent this interplay between grandeur and intimacy by using a large, yet throughly human scale in my work. Though compositionally simple, these works represent emotionally complex subject matter, and are interacted with most effectively from being viewed both far away and close up.

On the other hand, our continuous reach towards God is represented by a more intimate, small scale. Through the act of drawing, repetitive representation, and the process of layering images and materials, I show our everlasting struggle to communicate with God. This work is conceptually simpler, but visually more complex and confused, due to the nature of the relationship it describes. Our lives are a daily struggle to show God our love and ask for his blessings by imperfect, human means.

Through this entire body of work, I show the complexity of the human relationship with our creator, the imperfection in which we are able to interact with him, as well as the growing faith that we gain by continuously walking towards him. Each day our struggle to understand and connect with God starts anew, but we are promised that if we seek him, he will find us.

recent work

2009-05-11T08:06:00.001-07:00

Here are a few images of my most recent work. Some of them are repeats; I took new pictures of a few pieces that I wasn't happy with the previous images of and re-edited them.

Worship #3

Worship #2 SOLD

Prayer #8

Prayer #7

Prayer #6

Prayer #5

prayer #3

Prayer #2

my show opens soon!

2009-05-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

In just a few days, I am taking all my work to the gallery! I am so excited.... I've been spending the last week working really hard to get everything finished (mostly the quilt). Its all coming together beautifully. Today or tomorrow I will take pictures of my remaining work for you all to see.

Here is the postcard the gallery made to advertise my show.

I hope a bunch of people will show up to the opening! Though I really think Nathan is even more excited than I am....

moving right along

2009-02-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the piece that I had written the gospels on. Its crazy how long the background took (months), and how little time the actual painting took (a week). Here is a picture of it, along with some new and improved pictures of the rest of the series.

walking in The Word

living water

redemption

2009-02-15T16:23:00.000-08:00

Finally I have some pictures of the work I've been doing recently. This is all work for a show I have coming up at the end of April; in the show I will have a few big works and then a whole bunch of small works. These are some of the small pieces. Once I get everything done and up and whatever I'll write a statement specifically for that show and post pictures and everything, mostly because I'm excited. I've been working really hard for a lot of months (and will continue to work hard for several more months) to put this together. It is my first solo show out of graduate school, and it has been a lot of fun putting together all on my own. I don't have professors looking over my shoulder, I didn't have someone else help me get into the gallery, and I don't have anyone but myself to account for my time and getting everything done. I feel all responsible and like a real artist. Its like a dream. A sometimes stressful dream, but a dream. I have the best husband in the world to support me in this dream not telling me to get a "real job", because someday, maybe this will be a real job, not just a lot of work that is SO much fun. Anyway, I wrote way more than I meant to, look at the art now.

prayer#1

prayer #2

prayer #3

prayer #4

prayer #5

worship #1

These are a few pictures of a work in progress. It is one of the large works that goes in the show, it will also match two others I have posted earlier, "redemption" and "living water". I had the brilliant idea that I should write the entire gospels on my painting as a background. This turned into as much of the gospels as would fit, which was only all of Matthew and up through most of Mark 11, but I think the point comes across by the overwhelming amount of writing. At least if it doesn't, I am sick enough of writing that I no longer care and I'm done writing. but anyway, I thought it would be nice to document my progress before I went and painted over it, seeing as the writing is only the background to a painting, not the finished product. Me and my big ideas that take a lot of time.

This piece is 28"x80", if that puts it into a better perspective for you.

my studio

2009-02-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

I was taking some pictures of our new house yesterday, so I also took some pictures of my studio and thought I should share. I didn't realize how messy it was until i took a picture and looked at the room through the lens of a camera. In the next week or two I will take a few pictures of some work I'm just now finishing; a few are actually finished, but I have two more that are on the verge of completion so I am waiting to actually have those done to start taking pictures.

I also took a few in process pictures of a quilt I am working on for my upcoming show. I'm totally excited about it; I think it is looking really beautiful.

something fun

2009-01-28T12:24:00.000-08:00

For the last month I've been super productive in my studio and have been getting a lot done. But I don't have any pictures of what I've gotten accomplished. What I do have pictures of is another fun little project I've been working on. I've been sewing purses; I have three done so far. I thought I would share them with you; and then in a few weeks I'll have pictures of a bunch of other stuff that I've been working hard on in my studio.

current work

2008-08-02T15:37:00.001-07:00

Here are a few images of what I'm currently working on. The first one, Redemption, is from graduate school. I did that painting, loved it, and moved on to other types of work on the urging of professors. I'm finally back to working in this vein again, mostly because I love it, and its what I care about right now. I am working on some other projects as well, but those are mostly crafts that I am going to try and start selling, not "fine art" per-say. We'll see how that goes.

Redemption

Living Water

encountering God series

2008-08-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

This group of work is a series of work I recently finished. I was thinking about where it is we usually go searching for God (in church) and where it is we end up finding His voice (outside of church).

to climb high i am broken

wrap me with safety

Your children will follow

building up Your kingdom

i traveled from death to life

i walk a straight path

my protection from the cold and dark

my sustenance

artists statement

2008-08-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

We, as humans, have an imperfect relationship with our Creator. We never see the whole picture, we don't know the full purpose or consequence of our actions, and we continually mess things up. But as Christians, we constantly strive to get closer to God, both in grand acts like forgiveness and redemption, as well as in our every day lives. In my current work I am concerned with this relationship; I explore its beginning, its evolution, and its flaws. Through layering of colors and symbols, I question how we worship, how we pray, how we even find God, and where to look. I am concerned with this constant striving to uplift ourselves and encounter God in a fuller and more meaningful manner, as well as the fact that we will always fall short, and we will never know all the answers.