April 2023
Wellspring Mother Artist Feature:
Kimberly Knowle-Zeller
We're honored to introduce you to Mother - Artist, Kimberly Knowle-Zeller, a writer, pastor, and mother living in Central Missouri with her husband and two children. She believes in the power of words, unearthing the extraordinary in the ordinary, and encouraging others to follow their passions. She is the co-author of a new book, that was just published this Spring, The Beauty of Motherhood: Grace-Filled Devotions for the Early Years. We encourage you to follow her @kknowlezeller and visit her website: kimberlyknowlezeller.com and substack: Kimberlyknowlezeller.substack.com
Thank you, Kim, for sharing your artist mother journey and for encouraging us all in our own!
Mia + Jess
Shemaiah’s lovely workspace
WELLSPRING: Please share with us your name, where you are from and what medium (s) you work with.
KIMBERLY: My name is Kimberly Knowle-Zeller. I’m a writer, pastor, and mother living in Central Missouri with my husband and two children. I believe in the power of words, unearthing the extraordinary in the ordinary, and encouraging others to follow their passions.
WELLSPRING: Where do you look for inspiration?
KIMBERLY: I find inspiration in the everyday! I’m at my writing desk, the one that looks out towards the town park. Leaves from our maple trees dance before me. A few kids at the park are barreling down the slide and others are pumping their legs on the swing. A robin hops on the grass. My house is quiet (for the moment). My two kids, Charlotte and Isaac, left with their dad on an errand. We’re all tired and energized from the first night of Vacation Bible School. Plus last week the kids spent five days at an arts camp. On the stove I’m simmering a sauce made of heirloom tomatoes from our garden. The turn of the calendar brought cheers from Charlotte for the start of 2nd grade on the 22nd. The rest of the month is filled with birthdays at the pool and the park, camping, church, work meetings, and a looming book deadline.
But if I look beyond those calendar squares, I glimpse more than just parties and places to be. I see a life made of waking in the morning to feet running down the hall, picking fresh blackberries from our yard and piling them on our cereal, Bible stories read at the table over a meal, dishes left in the sink, laundry to be folded, paints, crayons, and markers colored on paper, requests for snacks, playdates with friends, text messages of encouragement, journals filled with words, bubbles floating through the air. In a word, I see love. I see our life full of ordinary moments laced with extraordinary grace.
WELLSPRING: What excites you about what you are working on right now?
KIMBERLY: I’m currently working on a motherhood devotional! I’m excited because this is the book I needed when I was a new mom. I still need God’s grace and the book I’m writing centers on God meeting us where we are, and offering endless love and grace in our mothering journey.
*Update: The Beauty of Motherhood: Grace-filled Devotions for the Early Years is now available!
“Motherhood reveals beauty in squishy cheeks and smudged fingers and lego-strewn floors. Motherhood compels me to share my gifts so my children know what it is to care for our souls, and to bring beauty into the world.”
WELLSPRING: Please share how/where you see your faith intersect with your creative expression as a mother artist.
KIMBERLY: Words matter. They move and inspire us. They give us a way to make sense of our world and how we’re to move forward. Words help us to remember this time. Words give us prayers, cheers, and the unending chorus that we’re not in this alone. I rest in God’s Word, the Word, that first breathed life into this world. From the beginning, we were meant to create. Hope and beauty bring meaning to our days, and it’s these small acts of creation that bring me joy.
WELLSPRING: How has your motherhood journey impacted your creative process or your way of seeing/thinking?
KIMBERLY: Motherhood has humbled me over and over again. When I see my kids creating -- painting, drawing, building -- I want to create with the same enthusiasm. Motherhood has shown me what it means to show up day after day and to love and forgive. Motherhood teaches me the power of presence and the gift of a warm embrace. Motherhood reveals beauty in squishy cheeks and smudged fingers and lego-strewn floors. Motherhood compels me to share my gifts so my children know what it is to care for our souls, and to bring beauty into the world.
Image: Dani Elgas @intentionallydani
WELLSPRING: What encouragement or wisdom would you share with another mother wanting to pursue her creative call?
KIMBERLY: I’d tell another mother wanting to pursue her creative call to take small steps! Do one small thing a day that brings you joy. Figure out what that is for you -- journaling, painting, cooking, baking, sewing, etc... -- and take one small step. And remember that motherhood is all about seasons. This may not be the season for you to create consistently, but it may be a time to nourish your soul with good books and good food.
I’d also encourage her to find a community of other mother creatives and remind her that she is not alone. In her mothering and in her creating, she’s doing holy work.
WELLSPRING: Please share with us where we can see, read, or experience your creative work: (i.e. social media, website, exhibits, concert info, blogs, books, etc...)
KIMBERLY: IG: @kknowlezeller
Web: kimberlyknowlezeller.com
Substack: Kimberlyknowlezeller.substack.com
We hope you enjoyed this Wellspring Mother Artist feature!
Stay tuned for more, we’ll be releasing two each month as part of our Open Call Collaboration, you can check out the details here. Interested in being featured? Send us an email over at wellspringmotherart@gmail.com with a statement of interest and share your Instagram @ handle or other social media presence.
