When they go on walks together, Katherine Kennington's husband isn't surprised to realize his wife is no longer walking beside him. He just pauses and looks back to see her bent over a pinecone, examining it.

For Kennington, a visual arts major at BYU, nature is art, simply and beautifully.

And simplicity is the theme of her exhibit in the Larson Gallery on the main floor in the Harris Fine Arts Center. The exhibit, titled "Treasures of a Child," is designed to help people think back to childhood and the enjoyment found in objects as simple as a smooth rock. The collection is on display through Nov. 15.

The exhibit elicits memories of childhood days when everything was appreciated for its intrinsic value.

Hand-built ceramic boxes shelter small treasures of acorns, leaves and other natural objects. Larger containers, constructed using recycled paper brim with stores of delicate leaves, textured bark and more. Shelves hold stacks of dried grasses and piles of countless childhood collectibles.

Kennington even has a portion of the exhibit displaying things she collected as a child and has held on to over the years.

In her artist's statement for the exhibit, Kennington said as a child, she remembers collecting endless numbers of rocks and other nature bits and pieces. She said her pockets were always filled with her treasures.

Her mother bought her a Caboodles cosmetics case when she was little, her husband Casey Kennington said.

"She didn't put typical little girl stuff in it," he said.

Instead she filled it with rocks, leaves, bark and other nature items she found beautiful or interesting.

As Kennington grew older, she noticed an ebb in her fascination with the simple things that used to give her so much pleasure. She realized that as people age, they start to get caught up in being so busy and needing to do things with a purpose. This included art.

As a visual arts major, Kennington had been exposed to a lot of art that made some sort of statement.

"I think a lot of the artwork most artists are making today has so much put into it that it's deep," she said.

She said she wanted to escape that mentality with her exhibit.

"I think art should just be enjoyed for what it is, not have to be explained," she said.

As Kennington considered prospective ideas for her final project required of all visual arts majors, she played with the idea of collecting. She started rediscovering some of nature's little wonders she'd been missing.

"This exhibition was a challenge to myself to relearn, to see," she said in her artist's statement.

Kennington said she wanted the exhibit to help others to learn to see as well.

Bryon Draper, Kennington's mentoring professor in the visual arts department, said he's observed that while Kennington's exhibit is all about simplicity in life and in art, she is actually tackling a big idea.

"She speaks as though she wants to go back to simpler times and forget about concepts, but she's really dealing with a big and important concept," Draper said.

Her exhibit has a comments and questions notebook for viewers to express their opinions about the collection, and the feedback on her art and concept has been positive.

"I've always been drawn to the little treasures that nature yields and am so pleased someone would take the time to help others appreciate them too," wrote one anonymous viewer.

Kennington can know that she's helped at least one person learn to see the world in a new light: her husband said he has begun to notice things he never would have before. He now even helps his wife collect the beautiful things of nature.

"Sometimes when I go running and there will be something on the sidewalk and I'll pick it up," he said.

Copyright Brigham Young University 6 Nov 2007