Kit Tossmann’s Artistic Path

By Lucy M. Pritchett Kit Tossmann didn’t have to think for long when asked about the Turning Point on her artistic path.“Someone wanted to pay me for my art,” she says. “Until then I never really thought of myself as an artist.”Kit creates with fabric: liturgical banners, stoles and other vestments, and art quilts using inspirational themes under her studio name Kit Tossmann InSpirit Designs.“What I really want to do with my art is to speak to the souls of others and reach them in a spiritual place within themselves; to uplift and possibly challenge [...]

By |2017-02-13T09:30:00-05:00February 13, 2017|Turning Point|

Her Stitching Became a Business and a Ministry

By Lucy M. PritchettLittle did Lydia P. Allen know when she named her textile arts business Peace Works just how much peace her stitching would bring her. You might say her Turning Point came on the tip of a needle. It was 2009 and upon the urging of friends, Lydia started her business taken from her creative hobby of using new and recycled wool from clothing and blankets to fashion decorative table mats, runners, ornaments, and bookmarks — one hand-stitch at a time. (clockwise from top left):  Tree ornaments; Lydia's grandchildren enjoy playing with her [...]

By |2016-12-12T09:30:00-05:00December 12, 2016|Turning Point|

How Tara Anderson Got Started in Public Radio

By Lucy M. PritchettIt is amazing how many times a chance encounter or an offhand remark can turn one’s life in a different direction. For Tara Anderson an encounter with a previous professor sent her from a career in classical music to a career in public radio. It also paved the way for a chance to live in New York City — an adventure in itself. On the road to becoming a classical singer, Tara majored in music performance at the University of Kentucky. She also listened to her father who thought she needed to [...]

By |2018-05-23T13:32:53-04:00November 7, 2016|Turning Point|

China Opened the Eyes of this Puppet Master

Nora Christensen’s Turning Point may not have changed the direction of her life, but it certainly did change her.By Lucy M. PritchettNora is executive director and puppeteer (also known as The Puppet Lady) of Squallis Puppeteers in Louisville. Last year she was invited to be part of an educational project in Xiang-E, China, a village in which hundreds of children died when poorly built school buildings collapsed during an earthquake in 2008. The project was established by University of Louisville math professor Wei-Bin Zeng. “I was to join the music and language arts teachers from [...]

By |2016-09-12T08:30:00-04:00September 12, 2016|Turning Point|

From DJ to Derby Diva

Often a turning point in one’s life comes by simply answering a help wanted ad. And when the position being advertised is at an historic Louisville venue then, as in the case of Marigene Witten, it takes you from college admissions counselor to manager of The Mansion, the privatest of private spaces at Churchill Downs.By Lucy M. Pritchett Photos by Patti Hartog But let’s begin at the beginning. Marigene (her name is a combination of her mother’s and father’s names) majored in communications, theater, and comparative literature at Indiana University. While there she was a [...]

By |2018-05-15T20:44:04-04:00August 8, 2016|Derby, Turning Point|
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