Inside the Spin-Mosaic Studio

Just a little story to remind the creative-at-heart to be yourself at all cost. [...]

This last year, Iv'e been asked if I "need help" more often than I ever remember.   Maybe it's the 1/2-inch streak of gray hair that's sprouted from my left temple that I'm not in the mood to start fixing. Iv'e always said, "I'll go gray when I go gray and choose to be self-assured about it when I do".   Disclaimer: These words were said by a younger self who was not starting to go gray yet.   No one told me that even if I self-coach myself not to treat myself differently when I go gray, others will.   It never fails now. When I go to [...]

The story of the biblical account of Moses, and specifically the faith and strength of his mother to hide him in a basket in a river...and from there, have a front row view of his remarkable life, must have left her as a #1 candidate when young mother's sought advice on fearless faith. What would Moses' mother say to us today? [...]

Why do bad things happen? A world full of intelligent adults and books upon books of theories and doctrines has not resulted in finite answers...only more questions. This mini watercolor illustration shares the story of one little girl who thought she had it figured out. "Through the mouths of babes.", they say. What do we know? What do we know about God and love and compassion. What do we know about guardian angels and prayer? Focus on what is true, and right and good...and lift up the rest in prayer. Let God bring the peace we long for. [...]

This is a simple story about crossing boundaries and the quiet spirit of free will. Life gives us many opportunities to imagine: promotions, people, social media, drama, wistful wishes, dreams, goals. But, until we experience things for ourselves, we will never know the truths and mirages that lie in the gaps between what is known and unknown. In poetic and parabolic prose, artist Christi Ziebarth, takes the reader on a simple journey to cross a field and view a distant tree...only to find that the tree was not what was perceived from a distance. Choose your analogy and if the shoe fits... [...]

The word, "inadequate" is not what we often envision Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to be; especially at Christmas time. Love, Joy and Peace is definately more popular. Associations with the persona of Mary includes a downcast blank stare, peacefully gazing at Baby Jesus, and "going with the flow". As a mother-of-four and a daughter who is a professional birthing doula, I know that a make-shift home birth in a dirty stable would bring more anxiety than the pristine nativity scenes of our century can hold. Once upon a time, I played the role of Mary in a nativity pagaent. I was thirteen; perhaps a similar age to the age of Mary. My drama coach gave some excellent advise on how to "picture yourself" in the role. My take-away was a sense of inadequacy. Actually, this is why Jesus came. [...]

Wether you are a Visual Artist, a Musician or a Writer, claiming the title of "Artist" comes with raised eyebrows, questions, assumptions. It can be hard to wade through the stigmas. Many of us have our own journeys and our own stories of the journeys. Within those stories, are the moments of being marginalized or misunderstood. We, as Artists have the choice to remain silent, go with the status quo, or to speak up. We do not need to wax eloquent, convince, or coerce. But we do, owe it to ourselves and every other Creative, to be prepared to give a ready answer. Speak up. We never know when others are listening who also have creative interests. Our voice may be the first step towards theirs. [...]

This story and illustration shares a familiar brand of disappointment. Have you eve had a dream? Have you ever pursued a goal just to be told it can never happen? Have you ever been advised to quit? Have you ever been discouraged? There is an art to sticking to your guns. There is an art to politely pushing back. This is one such story and it happened just today. Two owls stand side by side. One is real and the other is not. One wants to fly, the other believes that he can't. At some point, the dream and the goal need to become just as much about the pursuit and the desire as it is about crossing the finish line. Or in this case, publishing a book or taking flight. [...]

The Articles I have written over the past year all began within the memoires of Nia's Amish Homestead and lessons gleaned from the Amish culture during a glowing era of time 16 years ago. It was here that I dropped my daughter off each morning and each afternoon to be passed in to her loving care while I taught Art at the local rural school. There, I taught two of her daughters as the culture was a mix of Amish, English, migrant families, diverse ethnicity and socio-economic roots: a melting pot of variety, diversity, kindness and grace; lead by the children. This, was the witness I was privilege to during my years of service as the Elementary Art Teacher. This Article is different than the others, as it is not a memoire, but a road-trip I took two weeks ago to attend a wedding that lead me just a few miles from the school I once taught at and just a few more miles from Nia's house. Spontaneously, I hit my left turn signal and visited Nia. At the core of the message, we all have seasons and times in our lives we may long to return to. Our identities wane and transform as we rise to the needs around us and respond to circumstances beyond our control. This is one such story, and the life lessons gleaned in the midst. [...]

What advise would you give to a young newly-married couple? Sometimes, the least experienced are the ones with the best advice! In this article, I revisit advice given by the flower girls in more ways than one! Live Wedding Painting has added a fun element to my weekend repertoire and I look forward to gleaning much more wisdom in unlikely places from young and old alike. Enjoy a smile! [...]

Sometimes perspective and inspiration creeps up on us when we least expect it. Who knew that an unexpected walk through a cemetery would be the exact source of inspiration that was needed to fill my heart on this particular day. Sometimes the sources of fear that haunt us and suppress joy are quelled simply facing topics that we try desperately to avoid: finality, mortality, loss, fear of loss. God's Words from the Bible share promises about eternal life and the hope of heaven that should overshadow the "Valley of the Shadow of Death" (Psalm 23) with the light of His Love. Can we face fear and find peace in the reflection that looks back at us? On this day, this is exactly what I found. Christi Ziebarth, artist and author, gets to the heart of the matter by discussing a heavy topic in light artistic story form bookended by the promises of God. [...]

Wisdom in life does not always come from the high places or the low places. Sometimes perspective analogy comes in the common and everyday choices, like when to stomp on the break at a red stop sign. Contentments is also a slippery anomaly when viewed through the lens of the saying, "Grass is always greener on the other side.". At the end of the day, what are we each called to do?---use our brains, that's what. [...]

What happens when prayer doesn't look like it should? Is there a certain posture that makes prayer more effective: folded hands, bowed head, kneeled knees? Are there certain things we should or should not picture in our minds? How are we supposed to get this right? Artist and author, Christi Ziebarth takes a second look at picturing prayer though the analogy of knotted pearls, watertoweps that scrape the sky and yellow rural fields. [...]

Artist and author, Christi Ziebarth, pauses on her front porch to share a Tale of Two Topiaries. Each is different. One thrives while the other dies...or, so it appears. In our own heart-of-hearts, there is such a temptation to constantly compare ourselves with others, even when the best laid mantras and self-coaching affirmations are put in place. Rest in knowing that God knows us better than we know ourselves. He sees our future. He promises a future hope for us (Jeremiah 29:11). He created us. And, he knows how we individually thrive best...despite the appearance of the outer facade. *An mixed media watercolor illustration accompanies the story in full-spectrum subdued color. [...]

The first time it happened, I was holding a wet paintbrush in my hand. This house was new (to us) and I didn't know it's sounds yet. Was that the furnace popping, or a pipe creeking or did a tree limb just fall onto the roof?   Was the sound outside or inside? How far can sound carry across a cornfield? That was loud.   The early light was already blinding my view as I squinted against the first rays of sun that scraped across the faraway field. Upon a quick surveillance, I let the sound go and got back to work painting. There were [...]

Have you ever felt like a fish out of water? Sometimes it is all about perspective. Sometimes, perspective sounds a lot like faith. Author and illustrator, Christi Ziebarth shares a story from her days teaching among the Amish and how one Amish student eloquently defined "being okay with different." Fishing stories and analogies abound as well! [...]

Artist and Author, Christi Ziebarth explores the universal phenomenon of falling. Falling is not just when something or anything trips us up. Falling is also about the finesse, the grace, and the resolve of getting back up with tenacity and perspective. Superman is known for his flying skills. An illustrated story is retold from the days of little boys in superman pajamas with a parallel to a man in a wheelchair who resolved to make the best of his present limitations by surmounting momentary decisions. Big steps are taken in the small decisions: sometimes they can even help us fly. [...]

God knows our thoughts before we think them and He also knows our prayers before we pray. Author and Artist, Christi Ziebarth, relays a story where a stranger spoke into a matter of uncertainty with a message that could only have been known by God. [...]

Author and Artist, Christi Ziebarth, takes a step into parenting through the lens of a mother fox and a the reality-check of crisis. 5 illustrations accompany this illustrated blog while bypassing the common sugar-coated persona of raising children. Parenting is hard. We don't always know what to say or what to do. At the end of the day, we hold our children close to our heart! [...]

Artist and Author, Christi Ziebarth (me!) takes a step backwards into a memory of coming in from the cold; and a step forward rolling snowballs with my own son on a blistering icey snow-day home from school. Here is where we find a brand of love that is hard to pin-point, hard to explain, hard to write about, and even harder to capture in a work of art. There is a quieting that comes over a child when they come in from the snow. The wind is not longer whipping at their pink cheeks. Tiny pea-sized snowballs are not longer itching at their neck. They are no longer bundled tight and high-stepping to track through mounds of snow. Sitting with a cup of hot chocolate is the most quieting and calming 10 minutes of winter. The gentle provision of a mother unbundling a child from winter play and a child soaking in the newfound warmth of still air and freedom of limbs, is a very quieting kind of love. [...]

Value is more than a monetary exchange. Value is sometimes a gift given where talent is compared to another that is higher in elevation than an artist feels they can aspire to. This is a simple story from long ago when I sat selling painted ladybug rocks with my mother at an Arts & Crafts Bazaar. There she sat with her table of art. There I sat with my card table of rocks. It was a learning lesson for sure. Then, along came a little boy my age who wanted to barter something in his hand that I deemed far more valuable than what I had to offer. What this did for my belief in my own talents...will never be forgotten. How can we gift gracious value into the lives of other Creatives'? It is a question we all must consider as we encourage others around us! [...]

Every creative artist experiences a creative slump or writer's block at times. This article is a confession in the middle of my own. Instead of stopping the train on the tracks, I continued to write about the slump itself. In the process, my fingertips figured things out. It is this process of thought that I freely offer in this article. "God Only Knows" why slumps start and why they end. [...]

The Title of "Artist" feels more or less like a well or ill-fitting hat on any given day in the studio. This is the story of an art surfaced violin and a stranger who risked to run along the shoreline barefoot to call me back from my kayak. He recognized my face from across the water as the Artist from my Website! On a day when my title as "Artist" felt like an ill-fitting hat, his enthusiasm to meet me was both the balm and the drive I needed to move forward. Hopefully, I can do the same for others as I journey through life. Hopefully, I was able to do the same for him! [...]

It is easy to pine for days-gone-by. Wistful reflections of yesterday have their place and purpose. But, there are days, seasons of life, and widespread cultural shifts that make discontentment in TODAY more prominent. Artist and Author, Christi Ziebarth, reflects an the analogy with two dogs and an acoustic resonator guitar. [...]

This illustrated Blog Article shares one of my Top 10 testimonial stories of why I believe what I believe. Yes, I grew up in a Christian home, but it is the accumulation of small miracles and coincidences over the course of a half-century-life that has cemented my faith that God knows MY name. I am not random. He is not random. God is real. There is simply no other way to explain the probability of coincidence... [...]

This article shares of the story how my favorite vintage guitar came into my my possession and the remarkable woman who gave it to me. Simultaneously, I have surfaced more instruments than countless guitars! 2013 found me collaborating with the American Pianist's Association to surface a concert grand piano. Their stories were very very similar and remind us all to uphold every ounce of worth and identify. [...]

This is the event, the moment, and the hopeless circumstance where my art began. This is where MOSAIC began. Not through a love of Art, but through a love of what I saw in the scraps, and through my own view of a "topic" that is often viewed as far away. The topic had come close; as close as the eyes in my own mirror. Every artist has a story. This is the one story that only I can tell. Inspired by the words of LuAnn Udelle, it is a story I have not shared before because it was "5 layers deep" and I ... just don't like to go there. It's a story I do not want to share. But, I hope it is a story that maybe a few others can connect with. I am forever changed. It divided my life between: then and now. [...]

Artist and Author, Christi Ziebarth, shares a morning attending an honorary event for fallen heroes in memory of September 11. It was raining that day. Her daughter made an observation that "Patriots don't come out in the rain?" This article takes a look at the first step of an American Spirit at any age: Show Up! [...]

This week celebrated National Dog Day. An All-Call for photo resources of fur-babies with personality revealed Trinity (and many others) who have been heaven-sent. Trinity and her story was selected as a model for this Article Illustration that celebrates the grasping the best of what the present moment has to offer, while letting go of what is less important! --written and illustrated from an artist's eye. [...]