MountainMosaics's Profile

Bio

Welcome to my shop! My name is Kate Stockman and I am a mixed-media artist living in the nurturing mountains of western North Carolina. My business name, Mountain Mosaics, is reflective of lots of little pieces coming together to form a larger picture. While I have created mosaic artwork, it is not a focus of mine. Instead, bookbinding, jewelry, fiberwork, writing, and other interests combine to create my big picture.

My studio runneth over, so I have another etsy shop with all my destash. Please visit it at mountainsofsupplies.etsy.com.

I consider creativity a direct connection to Spirit. When I create, it is an active meditation. I am in the "flow", and I am addicted to that zone! My primary inspirations are Nature and the Feminine Divine.

I believe in the power of compassionate communication and alternative dispute resolution processes to promote peaceful conversations which can ripple out to create peaceful communities. Because of this, 10% of all profits from my etsy sales will be donated to the Dispute Settlement Center of Henderson County in North Carolina, a non-profit organization that offers mediation, facilitation, and education to our local community.

I started creating jewelry in 1995 (if you don’t count those dyed pasta necklaces in kindergarten and the plastic lanyards at summer day camp), combining polymer clay and recycled beads from wonderful older costume jewelry. Then I discovered semi-precious stones and beads, and created “chest altars” that had physical and metaphysical beauty. I’ve recently started working with sterling silver and brass.

I believe that creativity overflows into many areas, and fiber arts was my next area of focus. I come from a long line of needle workers. My maternal grandmother handmade most of my baby clothes (which I still have) as well as crocheted exquisite tablecloths and bedspreads and linens, which I enjoy in my home today. My paternal grandmother was a professional seamstress. My mother taught me to embroider, knit, and sew. Because of all these influences, I love combining textures and color.

I took classes in fabric doll-making and have made many dolls (it has been an obsession, actually), which I call Earth Sisters. Each doll represents an aspect of Nature, whether it is a season, a holyday, an animal, etc. I have taken classes from Akira Blount, Caty Carlin, DeeDee Triplett, and Victoria Blue Lightning Snake. All of these classes deepened my love of creating and my appreciation of dolls as vessels of Spirit.

In my love of combining texture and color, I also create “Fabric and Fibers and Beads, Oh My!” art scarves. And a really fun venture has been creating “Goddess Garb: Wearable Art for Divine Women (and that includes all of us)”. I craft Goddess Garb by adorning gently-loved clothing into striking and one-of-a-kind wearable art.

While I had made paper for several years (it’s like playing in your oatmeal; try it!), I took my first paper arts class in 2001 at Random Arts (a great little den of iniquity in Saluda, NC. Be sure to visit there if you’re in the area; it’s chock full of inspiration and items you can’t do without!). I was immediately infatuated! My love affair began with simple cards, rubber stamps, and cool paper folds, and has expanded into book binding. I have created hand-made greeting cards (some of which include my own haiku), fatbooks, transparency art, altered books, and OOAK artist books.

I must have been a monk in a previous lifetime because the activity of bookbinding is meditative and I use leather, paper, or fabric for the covers. I have been fortunate to take classes from talented instructors including Dan Essig, Nina Bagley, LK Ludwig, Savannah Canfield, and Joyce Sievers, to name a few.

Recently, I have begun embedding natural items or decorative/found items in the covers of my journals. I love having a feather, stone, shell, fossil, piece of bark, etc. as the focus of a journal! I have also just begun recycling neat old book covers that I pick up from garage/thrift sales into journals; I call them “Treasures Recovered”. Unless noted, any paper labeled "handmade" in my descriptions were not made by my hands, but those of someone else in the world. The handmade papers I use come from all over the globe.

I know that books are vessels of Spirit also, because I am often amazed (and grateful) at the end product, which has more than just my handiwork in it.

And through all of this runs the thread (or tiger tail) of jeweled creations. I have most recently discovered the beauty of lampwork beads, yet another addiction to support!

Speaking of addictions, I have often over-estimated how many beads, paper supplies, buttons, etc. I can include in my artwork. So I also have lots of destash items in my store. I hope you find exactly what you’re looking for!

I also am a writer (can’t you tell?). I enjoy teaching “playshops” and seeing adults (especially) who didn’t think they were creative beaming with pride at their beautiful creations! I especially love creating and offering playshops that combine inner spiritual work with the manifestation of a work of art.

I create my art in my home studio. My husband Andrew is a wood turner (see his work at www.mountainturnings.com). We have three teenagers as well as a dog and three cats. We live in an active – and smoke-free – home.

Thank you for reading all the way through my profile! Please convo me if you have any questions about my work or would like to discuss custom work or my teaching availability.

Peace,
Kate

Female, Born on November 27

Favorite Materials

paper, leather, fabric, fiber, lampwork, beads