The Not-So Secret Ingredient to Who I Am • by Katy Keuter

I think of myself as an artist in progress — by this I mean an artist that is constantly learning and experimenting. I have created with clay, stained glass, sewing, painting, collages, photography, cooking, blogging, and more, I am sure, that I just can’t bring to mind right now. At the moment I am knee-deep in sewing and just started up a new blog, but next month I could be inspired by a book on how to make mosaics, and before you know it I could be throwing it in the pot too. This is what I love about being an artist in progress.

A Constant Need
As a toddler I would rip the wallpaper off the walls so that I had a place to draw, much to my mother’s horror since we rented. One of my favorite family photos is when I was about 9 years old. I am with my siblings and some friends. We are all sitting in front of the T.V.; I am not watching the show but instead my head is down because I am intensely drawing on a pad of paper. Why is this photo so important to me you might ask? We had strict rules about how much television we could watch, so it was always a huge deal when the T.V. was allowed on. It seems as though the pesky artist in me didn’t care a wit about any of this; it makes me laugh now. It just feels as though the need has always been with me.

My parents have always been very encouraging. They are creative artists themselves. I attended a Magnet Arts Elementary school where art was encouraged more than math, which got me into loads of trouble when I entered a “normal” middle school, but I wouldn’t go back and change this — 4 + 10 = more hours to create, see what I mean, trouble.

There has never been a moment where art was not a part of who I am or not something that I did not cherish. Art is fully present in my life, even my dreams are filled with it. If you want to see a dream piece I shared on my old blog go here first: kt40.typepad.com/kt40/2008/03/close-encounter.html and then to see it finished: kt40.typepad.com/kt40/2008/05/finally-finishe.html. I learned how fun it is to create the art pieces from your dreams. Don’t keep them sleeping.

My Art Lair
I am 43 and this year is the first year I have an actual art room for myself. My husband hauled home some used bookshelves for him and me and a friend carried down a heavy farm table from our attic. I now have an actual art room, a room just solely for creating! I am excited every time I walk by this new space, and the pull to it is magnetic. It even pulls my children in, and this makes me very content. My husband walked by one day and said, “Oh there you are in your art lair.” He of course made me crack-up, but he is right, art is seductive.

When I create I usually have a rough idea of what I want to make. When I begin I think I must go into an art-trance of sorts, because something seems to take over and my idea grows and changes and becomes what it was suppose to be. Most of the time it is completely different from my original idea — this used to annoy me to no end, but now I just trust it and go with it.

Saving My Soul & My Spirit
When I am struggling with something I turn to writing small poems that are only for me and are temporary; by this I mean I discard them, and rip them up into pieces. Just the playing with words and thoughts is soothing for me; they never make any sense but somehow they end up making room for answers and happiness, but not always as quickly as I would like, mind you.

I turn to art no matter my mood. It is the not-so secret ingredient to who I am, it makes me able to mother my children, it makes me able to be a wife, and it’s the path I walk that keeps me going in the right direction.

Art moves me deeply, when it is my own or when it is others. It makes me appreciate my life. I see the beauty and endless possibilities because of art. It saves my soul and spirit daily, makes my heart strong and soft. Breathing art in not only fills me up, I let it run over, leak out, spill, and spread because ART SAVES.

To learn more about Katy Keuter’s, see her blog at kt40.typepad.com/kt40s/ and her Etsy site at etsy.com/shop/kt40.

Comments

[linda]

Beautiful writing...thanks for inspiring and sharing your story. I love the idea of creating from our dreams as well... like our subconscious trying to tell us something :)

[Susan Houseman]

I rejoice and identify with so many of your feelings and being a artist in progress. I especially love the way you "let it run over, leak out, spill, and spread because ART SAVES".

[Ellen]

I am happy that art became your compass and give your path
to follow. It is key that we listen to our dreams and give them merit! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful story~

[deb taylor]

Thank you Katy for such a beautiful story. I adore you and all your work. My smile is huge as Texas imagining you ripping wallpaper from the wall. YOU GO GIRL!