Bonnstetter’s Snowflakes

-=< O >=-

Keith
Bonnstetter,
a Spanish teacher
from Bettendorf Iowa,
was inspired after a family
struggle with childhood illness
.
His daughter needed medical
attention, and the prognosis
from the Mayo Clinic
was discouraging
.
They never lost faith,
and eventually found a
treatment that resulted in
almost immediate
improvement
.
Overjoyed by their
daughter’s recovery, but
saddled with significant
medical bills
…

“If God
healed her, surely
He could help us, too.
We put our trust
in Him.”

_{Photo by John Shultz}
^{Quad City Times December 12, 2017}

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That’s when
Keith began making
his cut paper designs.
Fellow teachers asked if his
designs were for sale, and what
began as a stress-relieving
outlet soon turned into a
thriving side business
.
Before long,
the medical bills
were paid off
!!!

-=< O >=-

Keith hosted
paper-cutting workshops,
accepted commission requests
for custom designs, and taught
sold-out classes at the Figge
Art Museum and the
German American
Heritage Center
.
He was
happy to teach
paper-cutting to others
(keep the German art of
Scherenschnitte alive!)
,
and appeared
as a guest on the
Martha Stewart Show
to talk about it
.
Seeing
the hand of God
in his family’s story, he
often donated his snowflakes
to help raise money for charities,
and made snowflakes as gifts
for every teacher who
retired from BHS
.

-=< O >=-

Sadly,
Keith collapsed
during a morning run
earlier this year and
couldn’t be revived
.

“Keith
has been a
Spanish teacher
at BHS since 2001.
He loved his students,
he loved his colleagues
and he loved teaching
.
Keith
was a positive,
compassionate and
talented presence on
our campus and he
will be missed
dearly by
all of us.”

Joy Kelly,
BHS Principal

I miss him, too.

-=< O >=-

We were
fortunate to attend
two of his paper-cutting
workshops hosted by the
Prairie Arts Center
here in Princeton
.
He
gave an
inspiring talk
while we sat together
at long tables, snipping
away at our snowflakes
.
(by coincidence, an
exhibit of my acrylic paintings
was hanging in the PAC Gallery
during the first workshop!)

-=< O >=-

Let’s see some of
Keith’s designs!

Bonn’s Snowflake Gallery

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This is a stunningly
intricate paper-cutting called
“20 Mysteries of the Rosary”
.
Looking at the image closely
for awhile, you begin to see
shapes surprisingly resolve
into familiar symbols
.
If you are reading this
on a mobile display, it might
be difficult to see the details,
so let’s zoom in a bit…

In this detail
you can see that he adds
hundreds of dents and tiny
holes in elaborate patterns
.

-=< O >=-

According to “Bonn”,
(what his friends called
him, and sometimes
Mr. Snowflake!),
this image is

“one of my very
favorite designs”

The theme of
this piece is

St. Francis
of Assisi

-=< O >=-

It’s a delightful experience
for me, looking at features that
are symmetrical but seem chaotic,
puzzling out what he was intending
to show, and then realizing that
I’m seeing rabbits, and birds,
outstretched arms, etc.

He Is Risen

-=< O >=-

The next one
will be harder to see.
It’s a large design, but
scaling it to a smaller
screen will lose some
of the detail.

The Last Supper

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The largest white
shapes in the design shown
above are silhouettes of
Leonardo da Vinci’s
“Last Supper”
.

I couldn’t find a
title for this one,
but the theme is
Shepherds

-=< O >=-

I found this image on
Keith’s Facebook page
.
Here is the comment
that he attached to it
.
I’m happy to share
it with you
:

Today
is a good day
to have a
good
day
!
In the midst
of great turmoil
we must turn all to
Christ, not because this
is in our nature, but
because He can
transform all
.
I woke today
with a renewed spirit,
a resolve to quiet myself
and listen to the
voice of truth
.
The one
that says,
in all things
be grateful
!
The first words
that I heard were,
“if today you hear His
voice, harden not
your heart.”
.
The next phrase
that flooded my
mind was
,
“The Lord is
my Shepherd,
I lack nothing!”

So in this desert,
I have found my oasis,
a place where I can listen
for the voice of my Savior,
who gives me strength
and courage
.
He floods my soul with
the peace that transcends
all understanding
,
and
joy shines
within my soul
even though outside
my front door
skies are
gray
.
The
unknown
frightens me,
but He calms
my fears
.
I
know
that the days
to come are filled
with uncertainty and
difficulties, but as long
as I allow Christ to
guide me, I know
all is not lost
!
For no matter
what comes my way,
God is already there
making my path
and guiding
my way
.
Faith is
a decision we make
every moment of the day,
but faith in the midst of
difficult moments is
what sustains us.

Keith Bonnstetter

Thanks, Bonn!

-=< O >=-

ONE MORE:

Here is my attempt
to design a snowflake:

I used it
as the cover art
for one of our family
Christmas CDs
.
(not original music,
I just pick songs
I like, ha!)

Your Turn.

(try it!)