Terri’s Cafe waitress finds fulfillment through art




BILL SPARKES / Acorn Newspapers COLORFUL CLAY—Kimberly Trabing displays some of her earthenware creations. The artist said she loves the physicality and 3-dimensional aspects of working in clay. Trabing, who works at Terri’s Café in Agoura Hills, said she keeps her inner child alive by the creative use of color.

BILL SPARKES / Acorn Newspapers COLORFUL CLAY—Kimberly Trabing displays some of her earthenware creations. The artist said she loves the physicality and 3-dimensional aspects of working in clay. Trabing, who works at Terri’s Café in Agoura Hills, said she keeps her inner child alive by the creative use of color.


By day, Kimberly Trabing is a hard-working waitress at Terri’s Café in Agoura Hills. By night and on weekends and just about any time inbetween, Trabing is an artist who creates everything from whimsical teapots and cookie jars to salt and pepper shakers and face clocks.

“Whatever anyone can imagine, I can make,” said Trabing, who said her art has evolved in many directions over the years. Besides butter dishes, vases and candle holders, Trabing has a successful side business creating mosaic mirrors and frames, and even contracts with customers for custom mosaic work on flooring and fireplaces.

Trabing’s art experience has taken many forms over the years. In the Las Virgenes Unified School District, Trabing provided enrichment classes to children at several schools, but when parents saw the results, they wanted to participate. Soon Trabing was teaching adult classes, too.

A native Californian, Trabing lived in the Bahamas and then Hawaii, where she said her creativity was born.

“I loved art as a child, but it really took off in Hawaii,” Trabing said.

Trabing launched her art career in Hawaii by painting monkey pots, a local seed that is handpainted and sold to tourists. She also made pewter jewelry that was mass produced and sold in Hawaii.

“Then I got into the ceramic game,” Trabing said. She created two lines of art, which were sold in department stores throughout the state, including Liberty House and Sears.

Trabing said she became accomplished in the Hawaiian tapa design on quilts. The tapa design, she said, uses symmetrical lines and neutral colors, including blacks, off-whites and brown shades.

She also expresses her artistic side by making masks, props and theatrical scenic backdrops.

Creativity is fluid for Trabing, who calls herself a “jack of all trades.” In addition to enjoying pottery, she also dabbles in acting and comedy.

She even worked as a clown for awhile before discovering that working as a waitress was a fine way to fund her passion for art. Today, Trabing sells her artwork at local art fairs, at Raw Style in Santa Monica and Ray Robbins Gifts in Pacific Palisades.

Trabing’s art will also be showcased at the Arts and Crafts Show at Warner Center Park in Woodland Hills on Sat. and Sun., Dec. 10 and 11.

Prices for Trabing’s pieces range from $10 to $400.

For further information, call Trabing at (818) 769-5700.

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