Hi Everyone!
Short update. I saw the surgeon yesterday. Guess what more testing next week then I will hopefully know if I will have surgery. He is concerned about my kidney. This does not surprise me. One of the main organs lupus attacks. I am spending a quiet weekend at home. Hmmmm that is all I do lately. LOL I am in great spirits and my sense of humor is peek. I love and sssoooo appreciate all of your comments and emails. Some of you have me laughing so hard it hurts. LOL
So Do you know Peggy Kemp? If not allow me to introduce her to you.
BW: Let's cut right to the chase. Do you
have a mission statement? What motivates you to make art?
PiP: My mission is to help make the world a
better place, every day, in whatever I way I can. I try to live aloha and be of
loving service. In addition, I want to have FUN and encourage others to enjoy
and have faith in their innate creativity and spiritual connection. I'm
inspired by nature and color and shape. I'm motivated by how miserable I feel
when I don't make art every day. My "beadsugar" gets low and I get
crabby.
BW: Where do you currently live and for
how long?
PiP: I live on the Garden Island of
Kauai, in Hawaii. I live in a tiny apartment in the bottom of a large house, in
a residential neighborhood mauka (toward the mountains) from Kapaa. I have
lived on Kauai for almost 14 years and I still feel lucky to be here every day.
I never take this beauty for granted.
BW: Do you do other work besides being an artist?
PIP: I still very much have a "day
job." I am the CEO, chief cook and bottle washer, main worker, and
"Princess in Charge" at Peggy in Paradise, the business I run out of
my home studio. Peggy in Paradise is a full-serve business that covers
everything I know how to do: bookkeeping, remote office management, search
engine optimization, social media marketing and management, business
consulting, personal organization, gardening, healing. And beading and
doll-making! In my spare time, I run a little doll hospital and make doll
clothes for fun.
BW: How long have you been making dolls? When did
you start beading?
PIP: I have made dolls all my life. My mom taught
me to embroider when I was five, and my sister and I dressed our dolls in
clothes of our own design. I did cross-stitch and needlepoint for many years. I
didn't start bead embroidering until I was around 40, so 20 years ago, and that
was about the same time I began to focus on making healing dolls.
BW: What are healing dolls?
PIP: Healing dolls, and other intentional dolls,
are made with a prayer in every stitch, while holding an intention of healing.
BW: Who would you say has influenced your art the
most?
PIP: Well, Michangelo! And Rubens, Henri
Rousseau, Frida Kahlo, and the mille fleur style of the Unicorn Tapestries. But
in the modern day, it is without question, Robin Atkins. I met her online 7
years ago when I was searching for flower beads and ordered her book
"Spirit Dolls." It is so aligned with who I am and what I do, I felt
a kinship with her right away. I use her simple body pattern often. I also very
much admire the three-dimensional woven beadwork of Diane Fitzgerald and the
netted work of Sandra Halpenny. I love Dottie Hoeschen's faces. I am often
inspired by the many beautiful blogs I read.
BW: Is there something you'd still like to learn?
PIP: Hundreds of things! I want to make my own
faces. I have all the supplies, including a dedicated oven, but I haven't
gotten around to playing with the clay yet. I want to draw better. I'm learning
to work with encaustics, which is really fun. I want to make marionettes.
BW: What medium do you use when you're making
dolls? Any favorite beads?
PIP: I use a variety of different backings,
depending on the doll: felt, fabric backed with archival paper, or your own Nicole's
BeadBacking, which I love. Since I discovered it (and this is not a paid plug)
I have used it almost exclusively. It starts out rather stiff and holds it
"hand" during stitching, but it does soften up as you use it. It does
not ravel and it comes in really good bright colors, plus some neutrals. It's
easy to use and doesn't stretch. I'm in love with natural freshwater pearls and
anything 24K at the moment. My favorite colors are blue, fuchsia, hot pink,
lime green, and coral.
BW: Do you make other things besides dolls?
PIP: I make beaded patches, stars, prayer nets,
pocket tiaras, bookmarks, tassels, and custom doll clothes. I don't like to
make the same thing over and over.
BW: Pocket tiaras? What are they?
PIP: I had a dear friend who was diagnosed with a
brain lesion and about to undergo a bunch of tests. I wanted to make her a
tiara to remind her that she is a Princess of God, but she was having
compression headaches and couldn't stand anything touching her head. I made her
a pocket tiara that she could hold in her hand during the tests. (She has
fortunately completely recovered without surgery or chemotherapy.)
BW: Do you sell your work? If so, how?
BW: What projects are you currently working on?
I'm making a series of intentional manifestation
dolls and planning a large beaded doll for our compost heap outdoors called
"Our Lady of Compostella." I love to garden, too, and go to the beach
as often as possible.
Stop by Peggy's and tell her Nicole sent you.
Honor and Integrity in Life in Art
Nicole/Beadwright
