When Bev sings, she is making her art.
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
- Melody Beattie, writer
“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”
- Willie Nelson, country singer
My website opens with gratitude. Gratitude for this day that allows me to be writing this opening page of a website that has been in the making for several years. The idea for creating a website about my art and my family’s art began with the passing of my mother several years ago. My siblings and I were responsible for the closing out of our mother’s estate.
We began to go through the many arts supplies, craft supplies, photos and photography equipment, genealogy information, quilting materials, a theology library, several sewing machines, a serger, pastels, architectural drawings, family memorabilia, original music scores of our father, music recordings and various inventions of our father, and the list goes on. We found that, our mother, Jean, was creating art from elementary age and beyond. The last time that Jean demonstrated her award winning mylar technique of photography was two years before she passed.
On this website you will experience many forms of art including music composition, vocal music, worship music, photography, quilting, painting, writing both fiction and non-fiction, fabric art, design including organizational design, instrumental music, piano music, cello music, younger and older artists, and much more. The common thread is that we are all family, making our art.
Jaylin, my granddaughter, writes this:
“Bev Osgood Reil, the founder of Making Your Art website, has made it her life mission to implore those around her to pursue their passions, leaving behind a legacy that inspires others.
From a young age, Bev has known loss, confusion, pain after the deaths of her father and little sister. Wrestling with such tragedy raised questions. What would the world never see from her father and sister? What songs would never be sung? What pieces of music would never be played? What stories would never be told?
Bev came to realize that while time was lost with her father and sister, their legacies remained. They left behind legacies of joy, hard work, creativity, empathy, ingenuity, laughter, love, and family. In honor of the legacies left to her, Bev has carried forward that same creativity, love, and hard work in everything from her education to her work life to her faith life. She strives for nothing more than to honor God, honor those that have gone before her, and leave no stone of her God-given purpose unturned.
Those in our family, still living or gone on, have placed something unique in each of us. No two of us are the same. Everything from the most innovative photography to singing classical compositions, all things are valid. So, whether you write, or sing, dance, or compose, chase it with all your might. Whether you play sports, or study, paint, or simply smile at those around you, do it with all your might. Truly, in all you do, honor God, honor the legacies left to you, and chase with all your might what you were born to do.”
Written by Jaylin Cabales, writer, and Granddaughter of Bev Osgood Reil
I hope as you travel around this website that you will be inspired to make what only you can make.
Make your art.
Tribute to those greatly impacted by the devastating wildfires on Maui, HI:
August 8, 2023, Lahaina, Maui, HI experienced terrible and tragic fires that destroyed most of the historic city. Over 110 lives were lost as well as most of the historic businesses and buildings of this memorable city. During this same time, I have been gathering art for this website. I found a photo in my mom’s collection of photos, The Lighthouse in Lahaina taken in the 1970’s. Then, In 2010, I wrote “Creation Song” inspired by the pristine plumeria blossoms that I found face down on the ground while walking in Kaanapali, Maui, just up the beach from Lahaina. Further, to honor those who lost their lives and livelihoods in Lahaina on that day, I have changed the words to a song that I wrote about falling leaves to describe the plumeria blossoms falling and of Maui’s cycle of life. By posting these art objects I hope to inspire hope, healing, and rebuilding to the Hawaiian people. I believe that great beauty can come from these ashes.
You may see the debut performance of "Falling Blossoms Rise Again" done by the Vashon Island Chorale in April 2025, at the Vashon Center for the Arts on Vashon Island. Scheduling and ticket information may be found on their website, http://www.vashonislandchorale.org
“There is no ‘right’ way to make art. The only wrong is in not trying, not doing. Don’t put barriers up that aren’t there – just get to work and make something.”
- By Lisa Golightly, designer
“I tell myself that anyone who says he has finished a canvas is terribly arrogant. Finished means complete, perfect, and I toil away without making any progress, searching, fumbling around, without achieving anything much.”
- By Claude Monet, French painter and founder of impressionism painting