Meet Kendra Roberts of Tracing the Heart in Celina

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendra Roberts.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kendra. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Some babies come out crying. My parents say, I was born looking around. I cannot escape my constant state of observation. It compels me to stop the car and get close to a wildflower. To cart around sketchbooks, notepads, pencils, paints, markers, and cameras. Everything I see is a potential source of inspiration. As a teenager, I mostly focused on sketching people and would use this skill to make pastel portraits for family and friends. Gaining more confidence, I mixed up both media and subject.

Openness has lead me in various directions. While living in Cleveland, Ohio for three years, I became interested in opera and decided to study voice at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Memorizing songs in different languages and performing in recitals was definitely outside my comfort zone. Before moving to Arizona in 2008, my voice teacher encouraged me to try out for the Phoenix Symphony Chorus. To my surprise, I did. Even more astonishing? I made the cut! The music and people of this group became my lifeline in a new city.

Not only did ART connect me with so many wonderful chorus friends, but it never stopped blessing me with new sources of peace and inspiration. During my time in the desert, I became a Yahweh yoga instructor, studied for a Master’s in History at Arizona State University, and had my daughter Cora… arguably the biggest source of creative fuel to date. I could list every involvement in more detail… but this quote sums up my perspective, “for people of faith, there are no coincidences, only aspects of God’s providence that we have not yet fully understood.” Here I am again, in a new state and new cities with stories that continue to prove this sentiment. Currently, I am unfolding a passion for horses, photography, creative software, and illustrating children’s books.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In September 2003, I was 20 years old, married a month, and beginning my junior year at Miami University. One morning, I woke up feeling perfectly healthy only to end the day being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. I could not eat without experiencing debilitating pain. After ruling out appendicitis and other maladies, they suspected Crohn’s disease. A week-long hospital stay turned out to be a 4-year path of multiple rounds of steroids, injections, infusions, other meds, hospital and doctor visits. Eventually, I would require surgery to remove part of my intestines.

While I would never want to re-live this time of intense sickness, I would not trade the perspective it has given me. Chronic illness put me on a restorative path..though it did not look that way at first. It was humbling to be forced into vulnerability. I had to be open to ALTERNATIVES — from medicine to food or how to go about tackling a large Crohn’s flare trigger — STRESS. God deserves all the glory for changing my default worrying mindset to one that pursues peace. Every little thing I create is born of an overwhelming gratitude and desire to TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED.

Tracing the Heart – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’m a freelance artist who focuses on taking ideas out of your head and placing them on paper (it doesn’t hurt that much… promise!). Whether that’s a logo for your business, illustrations for your book, portraits of your family (or pet) — if you have an idea, I can bring it to life!

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I was asked to design a piece to enhance the topic of a workshop. It was a joy to collaborate with the speaker and create something to help communicate the subject of her talk. The feedback she was given and passed along to me was very positive. Whenever I create something that brings joy, clarity or encouragement — it’s a proud moment.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tracingtheheart.com
• Email: kendra@tracingtheheart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bittyblueberry/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TracingtheHeart/

  Image Credit:
My husband Adam at Hope Fellowship (Frisco East campus)

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