Bird Ball & Chain

While I was in Spain I started sketching. Art has always been a friend of mine. Many sketchbooks have been filled over the years with drawings, paintings and collages of ideas, inspirations and memories.

I had this idea of taking my sketchbook along with me to Spain but there was only a few times that I really found myself at ease enough to sit down with paper and stylus in hand to draw.

I was in our apartment in Vitoria wrestling with the children over their homeschooling and had found myself nearly tied to the sofa in our little living room. Trying to corral the children into a conducive and productive state of learning took a lot of supervision. I felt convicted if I took off for the day or left them to their own devices for hours at a time (although one afternoon in a fit of rage I decided better to leave them then to murder them). Many hours I would stay home either doing mundane chores, reading one of the few English tomes in the Vitoria library ('Room' still stays with me---brrr!) or sketching.

Our closest art supply store was what we called 'the Chinese store'-Carrefours. There you could find an assortment of whatever household goods you required. But it was also where I found basic art supplies to replenish my stock. Cheap pencils wrapped in a heavy plastic covering that refused to cut in the sharpener. Novelty erasers that did little more than merely smear the paper.

But I was able to get some creativity down on paper. And what began as simple little drawings in the midst of a weary winter season in my life turned into something kind of exciting.

Welcome to Bird Ball & Chain. 

{ I was able to turn my fashion design/illustration bent into something i believe to be rather empowering...Women and guns.
Not just any gun. A rifle.
In most cases a stylized .22 rifle. I chose this particular armament because I have shot a .22 rifle. It is the only gun I have ever fired, but I am almost certain it will not be the last gun I fire.

Women who are not afraid of fire arms are the inspiration. These shirts aren't for women who are consumed with a fear of self-defense or those that feel unhinged by the thought of a firearm close by. This sort of perceived nonchalance from my artwork comes from education and confidence, and my hope is that all women experience the confidence that arises from handling a firearm. Safely and securely. And yes, trust that the safety is 'on' in these depictions ;)  }

Why a rifle? Well simple.

 I give you Joe Biden.

 “If you want to protect yourself, get a double-barrel shotgun,” Biden said in an interview with Parents Magazine back in February. “You don’t need an AR-15. It’s harder to aim, it’s harder to use, and in fact, you don’t need 30 rounds to protect yourself. Buy a shotgun. Buy a shotgun.”

I am not a strong believer in pistols, but living in Colorado you can be certain many Coloradoans do not go camping without one.  Am reminded of an incident in the winter of 2007, when we were up in the canyon  looking for Christmas trees to cut. Doe went scrambling over a rock ledge, came around the side of it and stumbled straight into a literal lion's den. While not proven a mountain lion, her white face and taut expression as she ran towards us said it all. It was a large foreign looking animal with tufted ears and spots and golden heavily lined eyes. She was truly frightened- not to say we would have obliterated this animal into the afterlife had we seen it firsthand-not even. But when you are truly invading a wild animal's territory it's never a bad thing to come prepared to defend yourself. Because an animal caught off guard will not hesitate to defend itself.

Doe has handled many a rifle and a firearm in her childhood, and it's with this confidence that she models Bird Ball & Chain.

Moll

Satine

Gretchen

Coralee

Monroe

Email me at: kimolsen510@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing one. Or just leave a Comment and let me know what you think.

If you're interested: All sizes for Women (and Men!) from S-XL are available. $18 includes S&H. Please give two weeks' for order and shipment.

 I am in the process of opening an Etsy shop, but since Doe posted a picture of her wearing one on her Instagram we have been flooded with orders. I thought I would give my loyal bloggers the opportunity to purchase them here as well.

T-shirts are excellent quality cotton and are being screen-printed by a local shop Wounded Heart Press.
(www.woundedheartpress.com).

“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”

                                                                                                                      -Jeff Cooper, The Art of the Rifle