I am super excited to share up we have Cat Kerr, a beyond crafty, kind and gifted soul, joining our Ambassadors in 2016 as a bi-monthly RELICS & ARTIFACTS® Guest Brand Ambassador!! I'm quite sure you have seen her amazing work around the land of Stampington as she is a regular in being published in their magazine issues.
Cat Kerr is a Mixed Media Artist/Instructor that lives in Central Florida with her husband, two kids and two fur babies. She works with a variety of mediums and especially loves to mix multiple mediums into one project. She currently teaches online and at art retreats around the country. Her work has been featured in numerous publications such as Somerset Studio, Belle Armoire Jewelry, Cloth Paper Scissors and many more. She has also been very fortunate to be featured on THREE Stampington magazine covers.
I probed into the creative vibes of Cat and here is our Q&A session together.
What fills your time when you are not creating?
I'm a momma first so that fills up most of my time. My kids are older, 14 & 18, but the after school activities, clubs, and practices keep me busy! I always say, I'm an artist in the in-between spaces of my life and I'm very thankful for those moments ... I create 15 minutes at a time. In between folding laundry, mixing spaghetti sauce, waiting in the car loop, and every second I can squeeze in a few moments.
What are your favorite materials to use when you create?
I especially love wood, metal, fiber, and resin, but there's one thing my pieces cannot do without...and that is "words". Words complete my pieces.
Where do you find inspiration for your art and how do you stay inspired?
I get inspired in unlikely places. Some of my favorite materials that inspire me are found in the aisles of my local hardware store. I always find something to use in my art in the roofing dept., plumbing dept., and in the gardening dept. I also love spending time in the baking dept. of my local craft store. I stay inspired by working on multiple pieces at a time.
What is your signature style?
This is something I struggle with because I like to work on so many different kinds of projects (jewelry, assemblage, fiber work) and because of this I feel like my work is scattered and without a specific style. A couple of months ago, one of the editors I work with contacted me and she said someone had posted a photo of one of my projects and wanted to know if the piece was available. She told me..."I knew it was your work right away"…and that led me to believe that maybe I do have a look. My hope is that I design happy and thoughtful art.
What is something your friends probably don’t know about you?
Most of my online art friends don't know that I'm an introvert. I'm shy and prefer to listen than talk. As you might imagine, this is something that I struggle with when I teach. So why teach you ask, well, I do it because it scares me and it's important to me to do things that are scary. The older I get, the bigger the urge to continue to try to live outside of my comfort zone. So if you ever meet and I seem a little shy...heehee...just know I'm trying to be brave.
If you could meet with with anyone, living or deceased, who do you feel you could spend hours in a chat over a cup of tea/coffee?
I would love to spend time with the poet Mary Oliver. However, instead of chatting over coffee, I would prefer to go for a nature walk with her just to walk and be in the family of things. I love many of her poems. They have inspired multiple pieces of my work. Wild Geese is one of my favorites.
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting
you only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountain and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely.
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
What is your favorite quote?
"One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began." ~ Mary Oliver
What is your best tip for those new to RELICS & ARTIFACTS® product?
My tip for those new to RELICS & ARTIFACTS® is to offer the question I ask myself when I first approach a RELICS & ARTIFACTS® project..."How can I use these in an out-of-the-box way and what mediums, other than paint, can I apply to them?" Asking these questions helps me to look and discover something new.
To see more of Cat's workshops and teaching schedule you can visit her at catkerr.com.
