Viva Artista!

       Many of you have seen Kim's artistic abilities, whether she was making flyers for a pancake breakfast, decorations for a classroom, putting together something for Vail Pride Day or drawing a large scale picture of the school for an award...she's always been so very talented...I always loved when she would make something cool for the kids, like a Where the Wild Things Are monster mask for Tonio on 'dress as your favorite storybook character' day.
       In her bedroom, on the third floor in the home she grew up in, Kim painted a whimsical mural on the slanted ceiling.  It featured flying rhinos, with angelic wings, a large, stork like bird, a bean stalk that ended with a large nose (she loved noses, feeling that no two people had the same exact nose) and fluffy clouds, throughout.
     She did a lot of artwork through high school and attend Vocational Technical school studying graphic design.  After high school, she worked for a couple of years and then attended Kutztown University, a beautiful college with brick buildings from the early 1900's.  Her dorm room, located in the Art House, was a large room with ceiling that had to be 20' high!  Her Dad built her a loft that stood about 10' off the ground, large enough for her and her room mate with plenty of room in the middle.  It even had a staircase.  He was an incredible builder, having the foresight to number and label each piece, so when Kim and I transported it up to Kutztown and hoisted the larger pieces up through her window with a rope, we could easily put it together.

     While straightening up today, I decided to see what was under the bed....you would not believe how much stuff Kim had squirrled away under there!  The treasure that I found, were, two of Kim's art portfolios!  The bambini's and I had a nice time looking at each piece and I was able to tell them the story behind them.  My favorite, is of a dancer and Kim had captured her movements in such a way, that her kicking leg, trailing her body, almost has the appearance of a flock of flying birds...very Escher-esque.  I just attempted to insert a couple, but being technologically challenged, I will have to forward them to my blog expert, Ami Bunch, to see if she can put them up so you can see a couple - they are brilliant! 

She could work in any medium, too - oils, pastels, charcoal, clay, wood (she made me an incredible keepsake box and inlaid a tree on the lid using crushed sea shells to make it shine).  My favorite, was a piece she had done for me back in 1987 or so.  It is of a neglected nursery, with a forgotten jack-in-the-box.  The jack-in-the-box has a jester's head and is the saddest jack-in-the-box you have ever seen.  Kim did the piece in washed colors to make it look sad and dismal - a child's favorite toy, no longer loved, left behind when the child grew up and forgot it.  She used red candle wax for the jester's tears...

 Today, we all had a better day...going to Mass together at St. Pius, unfortunately, Father Harry was not there today.  Then, we went to eat the incredible breakfast buffett at Viro's Italian Bakery and visited with Rosa and Vito (Vito had me bouncing off the walls making me two cappuccino's, one with a sprinkling of cocoa on it!). You know, we all just feel better after a visit with Rosa, Vito and his wonderful team! When we got home, Mario dropped Lexy off to play with Autumn and, it was such a beautiful Sunday, that we went out front so the kids could play.  Tom, Amy and Brian joined me and we soaked up the beautiful sunny day, so reminiscent of Kim's final Sunday with us...We did a little grilling, hot dogs and burgers.  At one point, I took some recyclables into the garage and caught a glimpse of the sunset...I raced inside, told Tonio, Aut and Lexy to hurry out front and we stared in awe at the display of pinks and reds and purples...I told them to enjoy every moment of it, as we have the most beautiful sunsets of anywhere I've ever been...  the girls played until Andrea came by to take Lexy home.

        Kim's artwork certainly inspired us today...and, I also uncovered some artwork she had done for a children's book. 

Our idea was, that I would write a children's story and Kim would illustrate it...I don't remember what ever happened to the text of the story, but I found two completed, color characters that Kim had done for our story, set here in Arizona, featuring a prospector and his little sidekick, a bird like figure.  She had also done some sketches for other characters, as well.  We never got to finish our story, deciding to populate our home with the bambini's, instead, making a real-life children's story...one we are still writing....
        Love,
               Dave

Philippians 1: 3   I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.