It’s not what I have, it’s what I do with it!

Do you want to live a creative life?

I do!

I’m Kim, artist and writer, homebody and fanatic of all things creative.

Glad to meet you!

There is not a time in my life I can remember not drawing and painting, or writing down and sketching ideas and inspirations. It all comes from inside. It comes from my artistic heart and mind, my experiences and imagination.

It’s all about what I do with it

I was blessed to have my grandparents in my life well into my 40s. My kids knew them well. I miss them every single day. I always will.

Every time I called their home and Grandpa would answer, his response when I asked how he was doing was always, “Too sweet for words.” That said it all!

These were ordinary people, but they made life extraordinary.

They taught me most of what I know and how I live my life.

It is no surprise I’m obsessed with making a HOME

My grandparents’ home was a beautiful, comfortable, livable space for gathering. Everyone loved it there! We all still refer to lovely furniture and décor as something “Grandma Houghton would have”.

It wasn’t all about what they had. It was about what they did with it. It was about them, their love, and their contentment.

My grandma, with lots of help from my grandpa, ran a decorative painting shop in Kansas City for years. Classrooms filled with students learned to paint like she did. I still smell its lovely scents every time I think of this brilliant place. Her style of realism in oils was and still is extraordinary.

My inherent love for painting and creating came straight from her. She taught me how to make things pretty. She showed me how to make my house a HOME.

Grandma’s paintings live on as her legacy to me and my family. They express honor for her. They display the love in my heart for her like nothing else could.

When ordering home décor pieces for sale and display in her shop, her philosophy was often, “One for the shop and one for me.” I inherited several incredibly lovely pieces of furniture for myself as well.

My HOME feels like hers did!

It’s my foundation for surrounding myself with memories and visually articulating myself. It contributes to my contentment and fills my space with symbols of the wonderful things I value in life.

It’s how I live creatively

A few weeks ago, I accomplished something huge. Bigger than huge. I finished my first novel. It took a global pandemic and a statewide quarantine to finally do it. There is no exaggeration when I say it took years.

In the span of those years, my entire life toppled into a mass of tiny pieces. Once a stay at home mom of two fantastic kids, I became a divorced empty nesting woman.

It took a global pandemic for me to firm up the reassembly and a new composition of life. It took a time of quarantine to climb to its top and finally visualize the contentment of where I am.

100,522 words now stand in an order I arranged. Each letter intentionally occupies its space following the one before. I put them there to tell the story.

“In artistic space, ideas develop and speak visually. Molecules circulate and charge in a way only seen through creation. They accumulate as the artist places them into their specific composition. They become art. Art is where words, thoughts, and emotions become something entirely new. It is the only way their invisible qualities become visible.” Callie Black

Callie is one of my characters. She came from my mind, my imagination, my creation.

Just as I placed every letter into every word of my novel, I lay pencil and paint to paper. The lines form shapes, the colors blend, and the composition forms into an illustration of my artistic imagination.

Art is my story. It’s what I’m doing with it!

God is the true Artist. He created everything from nothing. In His creation, what is invisible truly is only visible because of Him. Without Him, our own creations would never exist. We would never exist. He gives us everything we need. He has given me everything I need.

I still have a long way to go

I wish time could stand still right now. I’m finally where I need to be! Through the unsettling times of the 2020 world, I’m finally in the best time of my life.

My home is different now than it used to be. Less footsteps in the hallway, less voices and faces, no laughter from the kids. Different can be difficult, sad even, but it can also be good.

Life is good again! I have made it good again. I’m content.

Contentment isn’t ideal, perfect, or restful. It’s about purpose, application, and creativity. It is a space to be and do my life’s work.

Contentment reflects in my HOME.

The years have taught me endless lessons. I have succeeded and I have failed. I have celebrated and been disappointed. I have gained and I have lost. I choose the positives over the negatives. The experience I now have begs to be put to excellent use.

I still have immense learning and listening to do. I have more I would love to accomplish and produce than I can begin to verbalize. I want to be kinder and more compassionate. I want to understand perspectives beyond my own.

I have been gifted with a happiness I believed I would never experience. I am grateful. And I love grandparenting!

I desire to continue in the productiveness I discovered through a perilous time in this world. I won’t go back. I am blessed.

Recently I purchased a power washer, a riding lawn mower, and a weed eater, necessary tools for restoring my own home to a state it deserves. They are just that, the tools. What I do with them is what matters most.

It’s the work, the sweat, the effort that truly makes the difference.

It’s what I am doing with my HOME

Follow along with me as I show you what I do with my darling country home and art studio. I will help you take what you have and do everything you can with it, too.

Every month, I will share a project or idea, showing you how I make my house a HOME.

Every day, I will share a photo. I take at least one photo daily. It’s how I keep my eyes open to art everywhere. It’s how I live creatively.

I would love to collaborate and chat!

Sign up for my email list on the home page and comment below. Show me what you are doing with what you have.

Watch for an announcement September 2020!

While seeking publishing for my first book, inspiration and imagination has been spilling onto paper and watercolor boards, along with my computer screen. Digital painting is amazing! I will be sharing it all in my Etsy shop in a few short weeks.

Life for me right now really is…