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Our Texas Ornament Travels to Israel
Brush Strokes Pottery's TX ornament travels the world - this time heading to Israel & Jordan on a pilgrimage. Thanks to the help of my Dad, our little TX ornament had the adventure of a lifetime. I have to say when I gave my parents the ornament before they left on their trip and asked them to snap a couple of pictures, I thought "oh maybe I'll get one or two for Instagram". But little did I know my engineer, numbers based father was just waiting for his creativity to be unleashed. One or two posts to social media was not going to do these gorgeous images justice. So sit back and enjoy the ride through this biblical journey. The Sea of Galilee - Israel’s largest freshwater lake. Also most notably known in biblical history as the Sea that Jesus walked on (Matthew 14:22–33) to save his disciples caught in a storm. Al-Khazneh "The Treasury", is one of the most elaborate temples in the ancient Arab Nabatean Kingdom city of Petra. This structure, as with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, was carved out of a sandstone rock face. Most notably we recognize this structure as the entrance to the final resting place of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. With the camels in Petra. Petra A reminder to always look ahead to great hope and fortune and not to dwell on the past. This incredible picture was captured at Mount Sodom (near the Dead Sea) where based on the tale from Genesis 19, Lot’s wife was turned to a pillar of salt after she disobeyed the angels warning and looked back on her city while fleeing. The Dead Sea is landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan in southwestern Asia and is the setting for some of the most important stories in biblical history. Tourists flock to this destination to wade in the water. The high concentration level of saline gives those who swim in the Sea extreme buoyancy aka an incredible photo opp. I wonder if that would have been true for our little ornament had it taken a dip? Memorial to Moses. Located on Mount Nebo, an elevated ridge in Jordan, approximately 2,330 ft above sea level, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. A huge THANK YOU to my Mom & Dad for helping make this TX pilgrimage possible. They continue to amaze me and make me proud to call their crazy butts my family. Love you both!!
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Harper Hearts – A symbol of love!
A simple ceramic heart that symbolizes strength, healing, love and hope. This story begins with one tiny miracle born 7 years ago on Valentine’s Day. Her name is Harper and she’s my sweet and sassy niece. She was born extremely premature (30 weeks - 2lbs) and spent the majority of her 1st year of life at Texas Children’s Hospital in the NICU. During this stressful time, all I wanted to do was tell my sister that everything would be ok and that I’d protect her (just as an older sister does). However this fight was out of any of our control and we had to give this journey up to faith and the medical professionals caring for our sweet Harper. Feeling helpless, I turned to what I knew best and created small ceramic hearts with Harper’s name on the front and the words “holding you in my heart” on the back. The hearts provided our family hope and peace in a time of chaos and fear. Every day we clutched the hearts tightly as we said prayers of strength for our sweet little girl. After a tracheostomy, Harper was able to come home - with tubes, oxygen tanks and medical equipment galore. My sister’s living room basically turned into a mini NICU but nevertheless Harper was home! Over the next year she would continue to get stronger and eventually have surgery to remove her trach. Hallelujah. While she still faces struggles in her little life, you wouldn’t know it to look at her now. She is a miracle blessing! Harper in the NICU (left) and home learning to crawl (right) Watching my sister and brother-in-law navigate this journey with love, faith and courage is a constant inspiration! Harper 2017 A testament to paying it forward, what started out as a simple gesture for our own family, has grown into a powerful movement of love benefiting so many others. You see, the same year Harper was born, a close friend of mine lost her baby boy. Knowing she had to be experiencing an incredible amount of pain and grief, I created a heart for her family in her son Luke's honor. My friend Lisa was so moved by the gesture that after the launch of her own non-profit, Luke Lives On, she decided to give Harper Hearts to families supported through the charity. Thus the beginning of Harper Hearts spreading love to all. Lisa & her husband Cody honoring Luke at the LLO Luncheon. “My Harper Heart is a tangible source of comfort and strength. I instantly feel closer to my baby when I hold it or see it. The heart is a beautiful reminder of my angel and I'm so thrilled to share that gift with other baby loss mamas.” - Lisa Brush Strokes Pottery is honored to help spread this message of love and peace to those experiencing pain. Our goal is that each Harper Heart gives individuals that little glimmer of Harper’s hope and the courage to face the challenges ahead. To the many families who have experienced great loss - please know your little Angel's life was precious, special and should always be held close to your heart. Sending you all big hugs! It has been a true blessing to hear from many of the families who have received a Harper Heart through Luke Lives On. Here are a few of their stories... “I’ve been the recipient of four of these hearts. Each one represents a real part of our family. We cannot hold them and we cannot do life with them right now, but each time I look over and I see each of their names, I’m reminded that it’s not just the three of us in our family, but there are four more precious children that we call our own. Occasionally seeing them fills me with sadness, but most of the time it’s a gentle reminder of the promise that we will see them again one day and that each of their lives mattered to us.” - Vicki “I received mine last year for my Nehemiah and it brought tears to my eyes! It was the due date I was suppose to have him and my heart was filled with joy knowing someone was also thinking about him. Today, it sits on my fireplace next to a sign that says “it is well with my soul” as my reminder that Nehemiah’s story has brought light to so many other women who go through the same thing and we are not alone. I’m now pregnant with my rainbow baby boy, Asher, and took this picture the other day to show women that there is hope after losing a child.” - Leslie “When I received my heart after unexpectedly losing my daughter, Scarlett, at 37 weeks, I felt like someone finally GOT IT! I was four months into my grieving when it came in the mail and it was wonderful to see her name! I had so many friends and family that were so scared to say the wrong thing, that Scarlett’s little life was hardly being acknowledged. I guess they thought that talking about her, or even saying her name, would be too painful for me. But it was really the opposite. Avoiding her existence was breaking my heart. To this day, that little ceramic heart with Scarlett’s name on it is one of my prized possessions. I keep it on my mantel all year long and each Christmas, it hangs in a prominent place on our tree. Thank you, Harper Hearts for validating our children in such a real way!” - Katy More Stories... "I received mine almost 6 years ago now and still hold it so dear. It is the sweetest token of love and I can carry it with me wherever I go." - Bethany "I received mine in the mail from,' Luke Lives On'. It was a surprise that sent me into tears. It meant a lot to me because it holds part of my son's memory, it shows that someone cares, and is also a reminder that I'm not the only one in the struggle. I keep it in a special hope trunk that I bought to hold all of Flynn's treasures. Thank you, 'Harper Hearts' for such a beautiful gesture." - Christy "I received mine in the mail by surprise a few months after we lost Addison. It sits with her picture, Molly Bear and urn, unless I'm traveling and then it goes with me so I always have something of hers with me." - Kelly photo by Chelsea Francis Photography Whether it brings you comfort during a time of sorrow or peace in a time of prayer, our hope is that your Harper Heart becomes a symbol of love now and forever! Proceeds from Harper Hearts will benefit local charities such as Harper's Heroes (a BCS foundation supporting families with children in the NICU) and Luke Lives On (a non-profit assisting families who have lost a child due to pregnancy loss or early infant death).
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The girl behind Brush Strokes Pottery
Hi friends! This being my first blog post, I thought I'd give you a little background about Brush Strokes and how it all started. My friend Meg of The Autumn Girl interviewed me for her own blog and it's just too good not to share. Side note - I met Meg through none other than...Instagram. Yep we followed each other and once we realized we were in the same city decided we to meet up in person. Ever since then we've been hooked on each other and I'm beyond thrilled to call her a friend and a fellow ATX Creative. 1) How did you come up with the idea for Brush Strokes Pottery? I was visiting Boulder, CO and came across a small Paint Your Own Pottery (PYOP) studio. Immediately I fell in love with everything about it. Prior to this I never thought I’d be pursuing a career in art. My background thus far in Corporate America had been in Communication and Marketing.For some reason it really spoke to me and I knew that I wanted to own a studio. I got home and immediately put a business plan together and started looking for retail space. After months of searching nothing seemed to be working out to find a location. I didn’t want this to stop my dream. So thinking outside of the box again I decided who needs a location…I’ll bring the pottery to the customers. And with that Brush Strokes – Austin’s original mobile pottery painting studio was born. 2) How long have you been an artist? Ever since I was a little girl. My mom is an incredibly talented watercolor and mixed media artist. I always say that she is the “ true artist” in the family and my sister and I are the crafty ones. Growing up we were always surrounded by art and creative thinking, so far as long as I can remember I’ve been writing poems, building make believe cities drawing and painting. Of course I never would take classes or learn from my mother. I’ve always wanted to go a little off track and try it my own way. I guess that’s a true sign of an artist. 3) Can you explain how a mobile studio works? It’s super simple…we bring the pottery party to you. Customers choose the items they want to paint ahead of time from our website or Pinterest boards. Then we bring all the pottery and painting supplies to their home, school, office, restaurant and more. Theres no limit on where we can go. Being mobile allows Brush Strokes accommodate large groups (ex: corporate team building and sorority events) in addition to at home Kids birthday parties or Girls Nights. I want everyone who paints with Brush Strokes to have a great experience. Kids are still so filled with creativity and imagination that they love painting. We joke about music and pop culture, and we dance around with them. With grown-ups, we are very hands-on with teaching techniques so they feel they will have a finished piece they will be proud of. We bring lot of tools with us to help the creative process and are constantly pinning examples to our Pinterest boards for inspiration 4) What’s your favorite form of pottery to make? Eeek that’s a hard one. It’s not so much the piece of pottery but rather the design itself that I enjoy painting. We have recently launched a line of Austin and Texas inspired designs on mugs, plates and ornaments. It has been incredible to see my little sketches transform onto pieces people really love. On the same note, I’d also have to say I love creating our custom designs with kids hand, foot or thumbprints. They seriously make me giggle every time after I see them turned into little people or objects. Plus the keepsake value parents or teachers enjoy once they receive them absolutely makes my heart smile. 5) Who inspires you? My grandmother! She’s one tough lady who would do and still does anything for her family and friends. When I say tough I mean tough! She grew up on a farm in Alabama during the Great Depression so needless to say we have tons of stories of Granny shooting pesky birds with a bee bee gun, killing snakes, trapping raccoons and so on. At the same time she’ll turn around and make you the best Banana bread or sugar cookies you’ve ever tasted. At 93 years old she still bakes and takes sweet treats and her famous Bluebonnets around to people in the community to brighten their day. One of the favorite things she always says to me is “Courtney, you know you have to be a friend to have a friend!” It’s simple and straightforward advice – just like Granny – but it’s true. I try every day to abide by that philosophy. 6) What makes you happy? Making people smile! This applies to my business and personal life. I’m always acting goofy or sending little notes to tell people how much they mean to me. With the business I love helping people de-stress and enjoy being in the moment of life. It seems pretty simple but I think the world looks brighter when we all smile. Plus now I have the best reason or should I say person in my life who makes me smile and incredibly happy every single day! <insert blushing>
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