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Downs\u2019s work is currently on display in the FHSU Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art. While listed on the gallery\u2019s website as an MFA thesis exhibition in drawing, visitors will find that the artwork incorporates much more than just paper and pencil.
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\u201cI\u2019m usually listed as mixed media,\u201d Downs said. \u201cWhen I started the master’s program, I was doing a lot of drawing on paper and collaging with that, and I dyed my own paper. As I went along in the program, I decided I wanted to experiment with drawing on and dying fabrics.\u201d
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Healing-Sanctuary.jpg?resize=790%2C527\")
Healing Sanctuary will be on display in the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art through September 9. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Lavender.jpg?resize=683%2C1024\")
According to Downs, lavender, one of her top ten natural healing plants, can be used to ease tension and anxiety.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n Ten pieces make up Downs’s thesis, each depicting a plant that can be used as a natural remedy. Each piece was crafted from ink, water-soluble graphite and thread, overlaid on various fabrics, such as cotton voile, recycled muslin and recycled cotton. Downs dyed the fabrics herself, using natural plant dyes.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI took the top ten natural remedy plants that were most important to my initial healing journey in life,\u201d Downs explained. \u201cI\u2019ve learned to use natural herbs, homeopathy, essential oils, and nutrition therapy.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nDowns also found inspiration in the importance of having a positive, intentional thought process – something she learned during her years as an art teacher. She compared personal growth to the growth of roots and seeds, which takes place mostly underneath the surface.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201c[Growth] in dark places under the surface has a dramatic effect on your behavior, what direction you go, and how successful you are,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important that you intentionally think through what you tell yourself so that your thoughts are serving you and not undermining you as an individual.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nOne of the other central pieces in the exhibit is Seeds4HOPE, a community art project. Downs started the project as a part of her Social Practice Art class. She chose to research the issue of depression amongst farmers and residents of small communities.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Seeds4HOPE.jpg?resize=790%2C527\")
Seeds4HOPE is a community art project that Downs continually adds to.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile I was getting ready for the project, I wanted to go to some smaller communities to bring awareness to the issue, and to all the resources available such as counseling,\u201d Downs said. \u201cCOVID took over, and I wasn\u2019t able to go out to any communities. I noticed that everybody was dealing with depression and there are a lot of mental struggles. I decided to open it up to anybody who wanted to participate with a Facebook event page.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nParticipants of the project sent in pieces of seed-shaped fabric with words, drawings, or anything that brought the word \u2018hope\u2019 to their minds. Downs then sewed each \u2018seed\u2019 onto a long piece of fabric, which she referred to as a \u2018garden row.\u2019 The project is ongoing, and anyone interested in participating can email Downs at kammyLdowns@gmail.com<\/a> or visit the most recent Facebook event page<\/a> for more information.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll probably stop in June of next summer,\u201d Downs said. \u201cMy ten thesis pieces will go to Topeka in November, a gallery in Kansas City in March and April, and then a gallery in Newton. I\u2019ll do a workshop at each of those on the Seeds project as well, so I\u2019ll continue to sew the seeds on.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nHealing Sanctuary <\/em>is on display through Friday and can be viewed in the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY RAEGAN NEUFELD Healing Sanctuary is not only the culmination of three years of work for art teacher and graduate student Kammy Downs, but also… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":67126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,3397,3398,11],"tags":[5753,14732,689,14226,14733],"class_list":["post-67122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-area-news","category-campus-news","category-news","tag-fhsu-art","tag-kammy-downs","tag-moss-thorns-gallery-of-art","tag-raegan-neufeld","tag-visual-art"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Drawings-on-brick-wall.jpg?fit=6720%2C4480&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67127,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67122\/revisions\/67127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}