Kimberly Childs
My life has been a patchwork creation. As a child I shuttled between environments as diverse as a Kentucky farm with a 2-seat outhouse, a tenement apartment in New York City and an English boarding school with chandeliers in the classroom. I spent the better part of my childhood alone; drawing, writing, and sewing. So it seems apt that for decades I worked with pieces of fabric stitched together to make collage.
My professional life has been equally varied. I owned and operated several vegetarian restaurants; waitressing, being a short order chef, cooking Indian cuisine and washing dishes. No task was too lowly for me. I went back to university and finished my Social Work degree, becoming a psychotherapist. I married and divorced and remarried. During these many transitions, meditation, writing and artwork sustained me.
For a time, my husband and I moved between New Mexico and South Florida. Two more different landscapes could not be imagined but both equally stimulating and a never-ending source of creativity. Then we moved to Asheville with her beautiful mountains and they became prominent in my work. My hands and neck, however, were showing the strain of manipulating fabric, bending over my beloved Bernina sewing machine and hand sewing bindings. I was in such pain I couldn’t pick up a plate. I had to give up quilting and go back to my first love: drawing and watercolors.
I joined several plein air groups and was freed from the indoor, solitary life of a quilter. Suddenly, I was free to paint with friends in various locations around Asheville. I went from large fabric works to small art journals that I could carry with me and sketch whenever I had free time. Doctor’s offices were ideal…and hospital stays when I had Covid that necessitated getting a trach…well, painting is healing.
In September of 2025 my husband of 45 years passed away. I even sketched him when he was ill. I am deeply grateful to these hands and spirit that carry this deep urge to express myself and create. I have written a memoir entitled Remember Me as Loving You which says what I want my legacy to be. Please let these artworks inspire you on your own journey.
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A colorful memoir of London, Broadway,1960s San Francisco
and a Kentucky farm with an outhouse
Remember Me As Loving You: A Daughter’s Memoir