Dorothy married Kimball—artist and engineer entwined to create a new thing that never could have existed before.

My grandpa fixed everything on a dime and squeezed quarters out of our ears while doing it (yes, he literally pulled quarters out of my ears every time I saw him as a kid). Whatever object, he could find the problem and remedy it, ten times better.

So when my grandmother said she wanted to etch her artwork into brass ornaments, Grandpa made the chemical etching baths, brass coaters, and buffers to create thousands of ornament and a decade of artistic business for my grandmother.

Her handiwork was delicate scrolls and wings, his was machinery. 

I named this piece of artwork “Kimball” to honor my grandfather and all the people like him behind the scenes. This art piece is a cohesion of artist and engineer, interweaving precision and flow. Dorothy took on Kimball’s name in marriage, the “C” hidden in the artwork is for Cummings. The union of two vastly different people enabled an artistic dream to become a reality.

To those who support creatives and run the “machines” behind the beauty, I submit this piece of art to you. I see you. And it makes my heart sing to know that it’s hanging on the wall with someone who walked those awkward growing up years with me and supports me to this very day still.

KK