Kara – To Be Gifted An Earful

Claudia Henock 0:01
Welcome to another episode of Your Most Precious Thing, the podcast that delves deep into the captivating tales behind the objects we hold dear. I’m your host, Claudia Henock, and I’m thrilled to take you on a journey to uncover the mystery, the nostalgia, and the sheer wonder within the things that regular everyday people hold on to the most. So whether it’s a weathered trinket passed down through generations, or a modern day artifact with the surprising twist, Your Most Precious Thing is here to celebrate the sentimental, the quirky, and the downright unforgettable. And now, let’s meet our guest for this week.

Claudia Henock 0:34
My guest for this week’s episode, Kara, currently resides in DC, with roots tracing back to Rhode Island. Her professional realm rests in the domain of marketing, complemented by her pursuit of creative endeavors on the side. Art functions as a significant emotional channel for her, and despite not categorizing herself as a complete artist, she occasionally engages in artistic ventures. The lineage of artistic prowess extends from her mother to her grandmother, affectionately known as Mimi. Both maternal figures have profoundly shaped her journey by instilling the importance of fostering her own creativity. This episode aims to unveil the tale behind a special item bestowed upon her by Mimi, which stands as a testament to the influence on her life and ranks among the most unconventional gifts she has ever been presented with.

Claudia Henock 1:21
Hey, Kara, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today?

Kara 1:24
I’m good. Thank you for having me.

Claudia Henock 1:27
You’re welcome. So to start, what would you say is your most precious thing?

Kara 1:32
My most precious thing is a clay ear I received for my 14th birthday from my Mimi.

Claudia Henock 1:40
Can you tell my audience more about the clay ear story, because it sounds like a very unique birthday gift.

Kara 1:45
Sure. Yeah, it was. So my Mimi, she’s an artist. And she was a sculptor, she had her own statue company for many years out of Providence, Rhode Island. And she’s always been someone to give a lot of homemade handmade gifts. And for my 14th birthday, I opened up my gift box, and she had sculpted an ear out of just air dry clay. And she gave it to me, and it’s very special, for me personally, just because it’s very small and lightweight, so I can bring it with me a lot of places. But also like it has a very handmade feel to it. And her fingerprints are all over it, like on the back where it’s not painted. So I kind of have it with me as a piece, like that’s kind of a physical reminder of who she was as an artist, as well as just like a sentimental piece of her. Because you can really like kind of trace the shape of it and feel where her hands were when she created it.

Claudia Henock 2:42
That’s really cool to think about. Sometimes when it comes to a piece of art, there are sometimes like meaning behind the item itself. Do you know the reason why she made you an ear in particular versus like a hand or like eyes or something like that?

Kara 2:55
You know, I’m not 100% sure. She did pass away when I was 15. So I never like explicitly asked her about it. And I know when I first received it, I was definitely grateful for the gesture. But I didn’t really dig more behind it because I was a 14 year old, and I had just received like an ear. I didn’t really realize how special it was until after the fact. I mean, I think it could be like a literal like Van Gogh gave away his ear, and that like has a very literal art reference to it. I don’t know if that was necessarily her focus. She was always obsessed with doing molds of the human body. So she would always have like, her house was covered in different little statuettes of hands or eyes, or just random parts of the human form. So I think the ear itself was just something that she probably wanted to create on a whim. And then she thought it could be a good gift for me.

Claudia Henock 3:52
Do you know why she focused a lot of her art more towards the human body? Because you mentioned the references to like the different molds of different body parts?

Kara 4:01
Sure, yeah, I mean, she would do a lot, like her art was not necessarily reserved solely to the human form. But I know as a sculptor, and just as an artist, she always considered like the human body to be beautiful. And she was very obsessed with just like the organic shapes and nature of like a human form, because I think they can be a lot more forgiving, and have a lot more character than say, just trying to do a still life of a physical object, to be able to play around with a body part, or hands, knuckles, fingers, anything like that. I think there’s a lot more room for creative interpretation when you’re working on something like that. Although, I don’t know exactly like what her main motivations were behind it.

Claudia Henock 4:46
So another question that I have is thinking about this gift right now, as an adult, as like it’s been many, many years since you first received the gift. What are your thoughts about this particular gift right now? How do you like view the meaning behind it?

Kara 5:01
Yeah, that’s an interesting question. I think, honestly, my answer does change every time I look at it. I will say, I totally forgot that she had given it to me. Like, again, I was 14. I said, Thank you. But I definitely like put it in a drawer somewhere, and didn’t really return to it until after she had passed away. I remember, I found it a few years after, like, right before I was about to go to college. And I just remember the first time I touched it again, it felt very much like her. Because, I mean, I have a lot of her art pieces, like all over my room and all over our house, she would always create so much.

Kara 5:39
So we have so many different things that she made. But this one in particular, because of the fact that her fingerprints are like stamped in on the back. And it does feel kind of unfinished. And it’s such a quirky item, like to have just an ear without any other context. I think that resonated a lot with me because she was a very eccentric person. She was an artist, first and foremost. And she loved playing around with clay as a medium, but also just the novelty of it being a dismembered ear. And also, just like, there’s no explanation behind it, there was no note, there was no anything, it was just an ear in a box. And that was all she wanted me to have. I think that also resonates as another special meaning, because at the time, it definitely wasn’t very important to me. But now having something that’s so traceable, in terms of what her style is like, how organic it feels to hold, and how lightweight and easily transportable it is, it definitely comes with me, every location I move to, and I don’t know that was her original intention. But that’s a second layer of just importance, because that’s the only piece of art I have, that she gave me that I will bring with me consistently wherever I go.

Claudia Henock 6:52
So is it more of like a special little good luck charm to keep with you traveling? Or is it just something that’s always in your dorm room or apartment or wherever the new place you moved to?

Kara 7:04
Yeah, I would say, well, for a while I put it in a pencil case, just and that was probably not my best decision, because now it has pencil marks all over it. It’s not something that I would put in my purse, like before I’m out the door. But it’s definitely something that just needs to come, no matter where I end up moving to. And then I always put it somewhere. And then I kind of forget that I have it, even though it’s in the back of my mind that it’s with me. And then once I rediscover it again, I’ll touch it, I’ll feel it. And it gives kind of a sense of comfort and connection to her. And also it’s just fun to look at. And fun to remember because her personality was so out there. So having this kind of random object that she left me with is kind of a perfect symbol of her, our relationship, and just the connection she had to the world, and how she liked to express herself.

Claudia Henock 7:56
That’s actually really cool to hear, and sometimes what people leave behind kind of leaves a huge impression on us. And then another question I have is what would you say is your most fondest memory of her?

Kara 8:09
I have so many. She was honestly just like the most fun person in a room. Like she had a very commanding presence, but not in a way where she was sucking the air out. She was just bringing such a fun energy into any space she entered. And I think having that as a kid, because I mean, she lived very close to where I grew up, and was just constantly over at my house or taking care of us. So having that sort of energy around, hearing her stories, because she had lived like so many different lives, and so many different versions of herself. Like having her kind of eclectic, anything goes type of personality was incredible to grow up around. And then also she was such an advocate for developing my own creativity, and doing fun art projects. Every time she came over to our house, she would always bring something for us to work on together. And she’d always be doing a different project, like she was a sculptor, but she was also a painter. She also made a bunch of like crochet, knit macrame, hanging art pieces, like she was always in different phases of mediums to work on. And she would encourage us, my brothers and I, have two brothers to work with her on these projects. And there was no such thing as a mistake. It was always just express yourself through what you’re working with, and have as much fun as possible doing it. So there’s not one memory I can pinpoint. But that energy and the environment that she created when we were with her was pretty exceptional.

Claudia Henock 9:44
What would you say is your most favorite project that you guys worked on together? Or was there a major project that you remember working on while she worked on another project or anything like that?

Kara 9:55
I don’t know. I mean, most of the stuff we worked on it was kind of like one and done. I have a painting of a banana that I did when I was younger, and that’s still hanging up in my house. My mom loves it. It’s not very good. But that was something that we actually saved. She also made a lot of jewelry and clothing items, and she was very active on Etsy. And she would have me model them, which is kind of funny, because I was like seven or eight. It was like modeling, like women’s jewelry, but they would sell, I don’t know, like giant cuffs and like bracelets, she loved just including me in the process. And anytime she made a new piece, she would call me over and be like, “Hey, we need to do a photoshoot for the Etsy”. And I thought I was a model, even though I was only seven. She was definitely including me there. And then yeah, just all of the different crafts and stuff we did. She had them all over her house too. So there was always, I don’t know if I can remember a specific project other than the banana painting. And then the photos that existed me somewhere online, wearing a bunch of bangles, but we were she would include us in everything.

Claudia Henock 10:59
So how would you say that your relationship with her helped to foster your own creativity?

Kara 11:05
Yeah, I mean, I think definitely, because she was someone who believed that art was so important, there wasn’t really any other activity we did with her. Even if we were watching TV, doing a show, she was always working on something. And I think just seeing the different projects and the freedom she had within them. Like if something didn’t look good, that was okay, she was going to keep working on it until it did. And if she didn’t like it, like it wasn’t a sunk cost, because she had figured out a way to do it better the next time. And so seeing her work on all of the different projects she had, as well as turning them into a business and finding success, and being able to be creative for living was really cool. And I think she also inspired that a lot in my mom as well. My mom’s also an artist, not professionally, but definitely her stuff is great. And she has a studio at my house, and she’s constantly painting and doing, taking different art classes. And my Mimi would sign us all up together, the three of us, and it was kind of like a girl’s activity we would always do. And she was very supportive of everything I showed her. Even if it wasn’t great, because a lot of the stuff wasn’t great, but she was always, she would have suggestions and feedback, but she would never go too hard on a critique. And I think just having that sort of energy of someone who prioritizes creativity, and art, and believes that it’s an act of self care, creating that routine, and instilling that as an outlet for me early on in my life, I think has helped me foster it and actually really view it as like a form of relaxation, as well as something that I can leverage in a professional skill set as well.

Claudia Henock 12:48
So how would you say that your time and your experience with your Mimi, and the time you spend together, just being creative helped you as an adult?

Kara 12:58
Sure. I mean, I think just having that background growing up, always drawing, always doing art. And having someone who would take me to different classes and give me a little bit more of a technical training, or just learning by example, through seeing her, definitely helped me kind of create a foundation for like, okay, basic ability to draw, to paint, to understand color theory and value was important. And then I kind of got into a digital medium, using the Adobe Creative Suite, and getting really into digital illustration and graphic design, that came after she passed. But that was something that I think helped marry those interests, and I don’t think would have been as possible or accessible for me if I hadn’t had a background in art before. Because when I first started teaching myself the different creative softwares that are out there, it started truly as a hobby. And just another way to paint or draw, separate from doing anything, whether it’s freelance, or in like more of a professional, more refined way, it was just me drawing different characters, or doing different digital artwork. And that definitely was spoked by everything I had done with her as a child.

Claudia Henock 14:14
That’s definitely really cool to hear, and sometimes the best way to teach yourself new things is just to experiment with different softwares, just have fun, and just essentially be a creative person. And even if you make something bad, for example, that was something you created, something you had fun with.

Kara 14:31
Exactly, yes. That’s perfect.

Claudia Henock 14:35
So what would you say is the biggest lesson that you’ve learned from your Mimi?

Kara 14:42
I think? I don’t know. I think this answer also changes a lot because I think, I mean, I had her until I was 15. I had a childhood relationship with her, and then I had kind of a more meaningful, deeper relationship with her like when I was a teenager and more cognitive of what being an adult could look like or be like, but I think the most profound impact she’s had on me and the influence has been just reflecting on her life history, and on the different hats that she wore.

Kara 15:11
started in real estate, she started so many businesses, she was a single mother, just a very bootstrapy, kind of do it yourself person who was able to take any interest or passion she had, figure out a way to monetize it, and also just love what she was doing. And I think that kind of ability to shape shift, or never settle for just one expected path, but to just follow your interests where it lies, and figure out a way to leverage whatever abilities you have to make it work for yourself, I think, is a really cool lesson. And also just keeping in mind, like the context in which she was doing all of these things, and starting all of these businesses was like the early 70s 80s. And she had such a wide scope and entrepreneurial spirit in what she was doing. Like from a professional aspect, which I think is very admirable.

Kara 16:04
And then also her personal life, too. She had a lot of different iterations from herself, she started out from the ground up with not a lot, she made it big, she had a lot of wealth, then she kind of calmed down and matured a lot towards later on in life. And just having those stories from family members of how much she had evolved as a human, based on her own accord and successes. And just like kind of where she ended up in the last few years of her life, she had kind of a spiritual renaissance, which I don’t think I’ve fully bought into at least yet, but just kind of seeing the different phases of her life, and thinking about all of the different hats that she wore, and opportunities she had created for herself is pretty awesome to have in my lineage, and just to be able to look back on and be like, yeah, my Mimi was a badass. That’s really cool to have such like a powerful female role model, as well as just someone who did it in such a way that wasn’t, again, like this commanding egregious presence, but this super loving, compassionate human being.

Claudia Henock 17:11
She definitely sounds like a really amazing woman.

Kara 17:11
She was sick. She really was.

Claudia Henock 17:13
So Kara, I want to say thank you, again, for being on my podcast today. It was really amazing to learn more about the ear, and your relationship with your Mimi, and I’m really glad that to have you on my show.

Kara 17:33
Sure, of course, thank you for having me. I love this concept. As I’ve told you before, I think it’s awesome. And yeah, I’m happy to have shared some of the stories, and also talk about my ear.

Claudia Henock 17:44
Hey, on this podcast, sometimes, even the strangest items can have the coolest stories.

Kara 17:50
Yeah, I think so. I think the stranger, the better.

Claudia Henock 17:54
Totally, because life itself can be a little bit strange. So sometimes, it’s good to have memories or relationships that reflect that.

Kara 18:01
Exactly.

Claudia Henock 18:03
So Kara, I want to say thank you again for being on my show and have an awesome night.

Kara 18:07
Of course, yeah, Thanks, you too.

Claudia Henock 18:11
Thank you for listening to this episode of Your Most Precious Thing. If you want to support the show, you can leave a review on your favorite podcast platform and share your favorite episode with a friend. You can also contact me @claudiahenock on Instagram and Twitter, and Claudia Henock on LinkedIn. In addition, you can also contact me at claudiahenock1@gmail.com. You can also follow Your Most Precious Thing through my official website, www.claudiahenock.com, and anywhere where you listen to your podcasts. Intro and Outro music is Synapse by Shane Ivers and you can also listen to his music on silvermansound.com.