Memento Art KC

10/10/2026

10/10/2026

10/10/2026

Every year, we find these monarch caterpillars in our yard, munching on the milkweed plants that grow in the garden on the side of our house. Milkweed is the only plant a monarch will lay its eggs on and the only plant the caterpillar will eat. There are a lot of varieties including ones that have flowers, but I have Honeyvine Milkweed, which is a vine that grows and spreads aggressively. It is typically considered a nuisance in well-manicured garden beds. Fortunately, it turns out I’m not a very good gardener, so I have a ton of it in my gardens. Truthfully, I also don’t want to pull it out knowing the monarchs depend on it.

So, each year when we find them, we put them in a butterfly enclosure, feed them fresh water and milkweed leaves several times a day, and wait for them to form their chrysalises. This is one of about 30 caterpillars we found this year! It can take about 10 to 14 days for the caterpillar to begin forming its chrysalis, and another 10-14 days for it to emerge. Once hatched, we watch them slowly unfold their wings to dry out before they take flight for the first time. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours before they are able to fly over to the wildflowers growing in the garden. They'll often linger for a several minutes which allows me to take some great photos, which were the inspiration behind this piece, “The Freshman.”

This fall, my first-born daughter started college, and I couldn't help but notice the parallels between the caterpillar’s journey and transformation into a butterfly, to her transformation into an adult leaving home the first time. At first, she depended on us for survival, much like these little caterpillars. We kept her fed, and safe, and watched with amazement as she grew. As parents, we watched her make this miraculous transformation into this mature, funny, smart, amazing adult. And then she graduated and it came time for her to leave; we proudly watched as she gently flew away on her own.

Let me know if you have questions about this piece (or monarchs), which is available for purchase in my shop!
Www.mementoartkc.com

09/10/2026

While I create using various forms, be it wood working, resin, jewelry, crochet, or mosaic sculpture, I find myself leaning more and more into mosaic art. I’ve always wanted to use a piece of my mosaic art for my logo, but that required creating a mosaic letter “M” and it’s hard to find time to make something for myself. Thankfully, I finally hyper-focused on it and now I have a new logo!

The letter is a craft store pre-made wood letter that I used as a substrate for the mosaic. Once the pieces were placed and glued down, I decided not to use grout because sometimes it can be distracting - especially when there are such tiny pieces and so many grout lines. Instead, I used a clear UV resin to keep the pieces in place and also reduce the risk of cutting fingers when touching it (because apparently, I have to run my hands over everything). The resin also had an unexpected benefit of doming on some of the flower petals, adding additional texture.

I know some find resin tacky, but I think it works in the right circumstances. I’m loving the way this turned out. What do you think?

04/21/2026

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXZye-KRJMZ/?igsh=MXdwNGVhbmE3enV1ZA==
LAST CHANCE to check out Ward Parkway Center to see some incredibly impressive work by local artists!
It's FREE, it's fun, it's Friday from 6-10 PM. Live music!