I, Kerry Lewis, have been an evolving artist over the last 10 years. As my career of teaching was coming to an end, I was slowly transitioning my practice into a talent that I was going to make full-time alongside my husband, Melvin as he had been a professional artist for the majority of his working career, winning juried art show awards, making him the perfect mentor for my art abilities. As I retired and we transitioned to full-time artists, we were hit by a distracted driver as we were taking our daughter to start college in January of 2017. I became a quadriplegic as a result. Since I went from hand stitching rawhide leather to learning how to tear a napkin again, all of our art supplies were locked away in boxes while a long road of recovery for all three of us began.
Although I am still in a wheelchair, for six years now I have worked to regain full use of my arms and hands. We will always be on a rough road of recovery, but we are finally able to think more about living life rather than just staying alive. For the first time in years, Melvin and I blew the dust off of the art supply boxes and our desire to create art as a team. I knew that I couldn’t stitch rawhide crosses and custom lampshades like I did years ago, so I have evolved my craft into a taste of the past with my new spin on the artwork that you see here today. Stay tuned, Melvin’s artwork may be making a debut soon too!
Each piece is made by the inspiration of God’s creation in the natural world alongside the love and perseverance of Melvin and I.