Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired Project! for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Chris Kimmel with me. Hi, Chris!
Chris Kimmel: Hi, how are you?
Toni: I'm great. How are you?
Chris: Wonderful. It's fun to be here.
Toni: It's all blustery this morning and cold and windy. We want it to be over, don't we?
Chris: Absolutely.
Toni: All right, welcome to the Get Inspired! Project. Take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Chris: My name is Chris Kimmel. I own a business in Wernersville right on Penn Avenue called Five & Divine. It's a gift shop and gallery. I sell chalk paint by Amy Sloan. I teach classes. My background is interior design so I still do interior design consulting services and hopefully inspire artists in the community to come in and bring beautiful things for their customers to buy.
Toni: Oh, that's fantastic. You sound like a busy lady.
Chris: I am. Also, I'm the mother of two kids.
Toni: Oh my goodness. Let's get into the Project, okay?
Chris: Okay.
Toni: What does inspiration mean to you?
Chris: Inspiration is one of my favorite words. I'm always looking for inspiration. It can be anything. I get inspired by magazines. Obviously Pinterest is the newest topic. I'm always scrolling on there looking for new things. We just went to the New York Gift Show and went to see what new things are coming there and just have a great time looking around.
Toni: So inspiration for you, is it always a visual thing?
Chris: Yes. I love color, texture, patterns, rooms, furniture. That's my passion. That's what I just go gaga for. If I find something really good I don't sleep well at night because I'm just too pumped up.
Toni: Is that what inspiration does for you - it pumps you up?
Chris: Oh, absolutely.
Toni: Do you know when it happens? Can you feel it? Like you walk into a show and you say, "Whoa!"
Chris: Oh, yes! My ears are clicking and the ideas keep coming. I have to get up and get paper and write it all down.
Toni: Oh, really?
Chris: Yes. I'm still pen to paper. I do little sketches. I have lists. I have ideas. When I found my chalk paint, I didn't sleep for three nights. I was too excited. I had to just keep researching it to find out more.
Toni: So how do you take that, when you are so inspired by what you see and you know and you want to do something with that, how do you put that into practice in Berks County?
Chris: I'm lucky in that I own a store. That's why I started it. My background is in interior design. I did that for many years commercially. I wanted to have an outlet close to home so I started the store. I found lots of local artists to bring their things in. I like to create vignettes around all that work. If somebody brings in a really wonderful piece of art or a dresser or a piece of pottery, anything they bring in, we start making images around that. I'll start painting walls. I'll start painting furniture. We'll go all around the store and pull up everything together that makes it fit together. I just love that.
Toni: How does that translate into your personal life, being that inspired?
Chris: I'm in my third house that I'm working on. First I had an old Victorian, then we actually lived above the store in a huge, big old apartment for 4-5 years, and now I'm in a little red farmhouse country cottage. I try to bring that into my life as well.
Toni: When you're visually inspired, have you done anything at the houses or maybe with the kids that you've translated that inspiration into them somehow?
Chris: I definitely think as much as my kids don't want to be a part of the store, when they were little, they loved it. Now they are teenagers so they kind of pull away, but my son wants to make a studio in the basement at the store.
Toni: That's great!
Chris: He's wanting to start his own entrepreneurship and business and do his own thing. I think everything you do as a parent eventually affects your children and they absorb it.
Toni: And they know when you're inspired?
Chris: Oh, yes.
Toni: They can always tell, "Mom's inspired! There it is!"
Chris: Oh, yes. It's just like I disappear for a few days when I'm in the middle of something.
Toni: That's great. So who in Berks County inspires you?
Chris: I'm very lucky to be surrounded by creative people. I have quite a few ladies in the store who are all very creative and artistic in their own right. Karen Wolf has been with me since I started the store. Sherry Hafer, who's here with me today, she does very rustic, colorful pieces. Doreen Kohler that I work with, she does collages. Gail, she's been into transfers and decoupaging. Everything I see that everybody else does, I say, "Oh, I could do this," and it just starts bouncing off each other, and that's what inspires me. Here locally are the girls I work with and my customers. My customers are bringing their phone in and saying, "Oh, look what I just did!" It's just that constant interaction and sense of community with artistic people that I just love.
Toni: It sounds like a lot of idea generation. "Here's my idea, and I can build on that."
Chris: Yes.
Toni: Actually it sounds very collaborative.
Chris: Yes, I do believe in collaborative art. As I've been working through this, I've noticed some people really do like to work individually, more solo. I'm much more of a collaborative type artist. That's where I have fun.
Toni: And feeding off of others people's inspiration.
Chris: Absolutely.
Toni:: So when you're inspired by these people and what inspires you, have you noticed anything changes over the years of trends or things that used to get you really excited and where you are today to where you were when you first started?
Chris: Oh, absolutely. It constantly evolves. I've met a lot of customers who say, "My house has become like your store," but it keeps changing. You see a new texture, you see a new technique, you see a new book, you see a new magazine, you go to somebody's house and you see something. It constantly evolves.
Toni: Give us an example of the last time either someone has inspired you or what you've seen where you said, "Wow!" When was the last time you said, "Wow!"?
Chris: Let me think about that. We just got back from New York. We went up to the New York Gift Show and went into this one booth I just fell in love with. They had all this rustic hardware and neat nails with big heads on them and neat brackets. I said, "Okay, I love this." It's whatever happens that particular day. Bit may not last too long. We always say it's like that movie where the dog is doing something then he says, "Squirrel!" That's me on a daily basis. I'm just changing back and forth from one thing to another.
Toni: How cool to be constantly inspired. That's a great place to be.
Chris: It is. It really is.
Toni: So Chris what do you want your legacy to be?
Chris: Hopefully that I've done a good job with my children, that I leave a wonderful store behind that people will remember, and hopefully that I've done good things in the community. There's a lot of local artists that come in and try to do things for the community. I've restored an old, old building. The building that I'm in is like 150-160 years old. I'm hoping that it will carry on, that even if I change my mind and do something else that maybe it will continue in the community and that I've had a positive impact.
Toni: What a great way to pay inspiration forward. Thank you so much for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired Project! for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Chris Kimmel with me. Hi, Chris!
Chris Kimmel: Hi, how are you?
Toni: I'm great. How are you?
Chris: Wonderful. It's fun to be here.
Toni: It's all blustery this morning and cold and windy. We want it to be over, don't we?
Chris: Absolutely.
Toni: All right, welcome to the Get Inspired! Project. Take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Chris: My name is Chris Kimmel. I own a business in Wernersville right on Penn Avenue called Five & Divine. It's a gift shop and gallery. I sell chalk paint by Amy Sloan. I teach classes. My background is interior design so I still do interior design consulting services and hopefully inspire artists in the community to come in and bring beautiful things for their customers to buy.
Toni: Oh, that's fantastic. You sound like a busy lady.
Chris: I am. Also, I'm the mother of two kids.
Toni: Oh my goodness. Let's get into the Project, okay?
Chris: Okay.
Toni: What does inspiration mean to you?
Chris: Inspiration is one of my favorite words. I'm always looking for inspiration. It can be anything. I get inspired by magazines. Obviously Pinterest is the newest topic. I'm always scrolling on there looking for new things. We just went to the New York Gift Show and went to see what new things are coming there and just have a great time looking around.
Toni: So inspiration for you, is it always a visual thing?
Chris: Yes. I love color, texture, patterns, rooms, furniture. That's my passion. That's what I just go gaga for. If I find something really good I don't sleep well at night because I'm just too pumped up.
Toni: Is that what inspiration does for you - it pumps you up?
Chris: Oh, absolutely.
Toni: Do you know when it happens? Can you feel it? Like you walk into a show and you say, "Whoa!"
Chris: Oh, yes! My ears are clicking and the ideas keep coming. I have to get up and get paper and write it all down.
Toni: Oh, really?
Chris: Yes. I'm still pen to paper. I do little sketches. I have lists. I have ideas. When I found my chalk paint, I didn't sleep for three nights. I was too excited. I had to just keep researching it to find out more.
Toni: So how do you take that, when you are so inspired by what you see and you know and you want to do something with that, how do you put that into practice in Berks County?
Chris: I'm lucky in that I own a store. That's why I started it. My background is in interior design. I did that for many years commercially. I wanted to have an outlet close to home so I started the store. I found lots of local artists to bring their things in. I like to create vignettes around all that work. If somebody brings in a really wonderful piece of art or a dresser or a piece of pottery, anything they bring in, we start making images around that. I'll start painting walls. I'll start painting furniture. We'll go all around the store and pull up everything together that makes it fit together. I just love that.
Toni: How does that translate into your personal life, being that inspired?
Chris: I'm in my third house that I'm working on. First I had an old Victorian, then we actually lived above the store in a huge, big old apartment for 4-5 years, and now I'm in a little red farmhouse country cottage. I try to bring that into my life as well.
Toni: When you're visually inspired, have you done anything at the houses or maybe with the kids that you've translated that inspiration into them somehow?
Chris: I definitely think as much as my kids don't want to be a part of the store, when they were little, they loved it. Now they are teenagers so they kind of pull away, but my son wants to make a studio in the basement at the store.
Toni: That's great!
Chris: He's wanting to start his own entrepreneurship and business and do his own thing. I think everything you do as a parent eventually affects your children and they absorb it.
Toni: And they know when you're inspired?
Chris: Oh, yes.
Toni: They can always tell, "Mom's inspired! There it is!"
Chris: Oh, yes. It's just like I disappear for a few days when I'm in the middle of something.
Toni: That's great. So who in Berks County inspires you?
Chris: I'm very lucky to be surrounded by creative people. I have quite a few ladies in the store who are all very creative and artistic in their own right. Karen Wolf has been with me since I started the store. Sherry Hafer, who's here with me today, she does very rustic, colorful pieces. Doreen Kohler that I work with, she does collages. Gail, she's been into transfers and decoupaging. Everything I see that everybody else does, I say, "Oh, I could do this," and it just starts bouncing off each other, and that's what inspires me. Here locally are the girls I work with and my customers. My customers are bringing their phone in and saying, "Oh, look what I just did!" It's just that constant interaction and sense of community with artistic people that I just love.
Toni: It sounds like a lot of idea generation. "Here's my idea, and I can build on that."
Chris: Yes.
Toni: Actually it sounds very collaborative.
Chris: Yes, I do believe in collaborative art. As I've been working through this, I've noticed some people really do like to work individually, more solo. I'm much more of a collaborative type artist. That's where I have fun.
Toni: And feeding off of others people's inspiration.
Chris: Absolutely.
Toni:: So when you're inspired by these people and what inspires you, have you noticed anything changes over the years of trends or things that used to get you really excited and where you are today to where you were when you first started?
Chris: Oh, absolutely. It constantly evolves. I've met a lot of customers who say, "My house has become like your store," but it keeps changing. You see a new texture, you see a new technique, you see a new book, you see a new magazine, you go to somebody's house and you see something. It constantly evolves.
Toni: Give us an example of the last time either someone has inspired you or what you've seen where you said, "Wow!" When was the last time you said, "Wow!"?
Chris: Let me think about that. We just got back from New York. We went up to the New York Gift Show and went into this one booth I just fell in love with. They had all this rustic hardware and neat nails with big heads on them and neat brackets. I said, "Okay, I love this." It's whatever happens that particular day. Bit may not last too long. We always say it's like that movie where the dog is doing something then he says, "Squirrel!" That's me on a daily basis. I'm just changing back and forth from one thing to another.
Toni: How cool to be constantly inspired. That's a great place to be.
Chris: It is. It really is.
Toni: So Chris what do you want your legacy to be?
Chris: Hopefully that I've done a good job with my children, that I leave a wonderful store behind that people will remember, and hopefully that I've done good things in the community. There's a lot of local artists that come in and try to do things for the community. I've restored an old, old building. The building that I'm in is like 150-160 years old. I'm hoping that it will carry on, that even if I change my mind and do something else that maybe it will continue in the community and that I've had a positive impact.
Toni: What a great way to pay inspiration forward. Thank you so much for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
