I came to work, and it looked exactly the same at the office as it had last year. What the hey ?
So, I felt motivated to take down all the posters and cards and photos and start with a clean slate. I left up the tinsel and the blow-up dolls.
But the point of this post, if there is one, is to ponder this:
There are so many different kinds of crafting. Many genres. There is knitting, crocheting, quilting, making clothes, bags, hats. There is pottery-throwing, tile shattering, clay conditioning, bead stringing. There is paper-cutting, gluing, decoupaging, embossing, glittering. There is sketching, drawing, painting and snorkeling. I mean, there are a plethora of crafts! A veritable smorgasbord! And even if some of the steam tables don't work very well, the whole smorgasbord is hot right now.
But one can't help but notice that very few of us do more than one or two of those crafts. Generally, we each settle on one or two that we're drawn to, and we work in that one or two, until we die. I mean, carrying this to its logical conclusion.
What makes a person pick one thing? What is it? Why are we drawn to what we're drawn to? HUH?
If you feel you'd like to comment and let me know why you are so in love with cutting up pieces of paper and gluing them together, I'm really interested. Maybe you don't know why. Or, maybe thinking about it will lend some insight into the madness of ordering chaos. What is it about photography that gets you going? Why do you enjoy cutting your fingers on little shards of glass?
I'm placing a little poll here, too. I know a lot of you DON'T do any crafting or art, but maybe you have given it a shot in the past. Or, maybe you collect art of a certain type. What draws you to that art?
On another note, let's all hope and pray for a better, safer, and healthier year. I don't know why we celebrate a turnover from one year to another, based on a somewhat arbitrary date on a calendar we didn't even approve, but given that we do feel a sense of renewal and second chances, let's all strive even harder for peace and health for all this year!
6 comments:
i love collage best
i paint with acrylics
i do pottery... handbuilding now ... functional
i like non functional handbuilding ....
i had a big pottery wheel phase ....
i learned to knit this year (hadn't done it since third grade)
i sew
i am passionate about making christmas gifts
i like scrapbooking (this isn't a big stretch from collage)
i beaded profusely ... now i bead a bit
i went through a purse making phase ....
i doodle to the extreme (even on my shoes)
i do love photography
i am the exception to your rule....
perhaps i have A.D.D.
there are many crafts that I have and would like to experiment with. Someone gave me some pink ice cream flavored with peppermint bark. And all of the sudden I was struck with the idea of experimenting with different colors and flavors. Although, I suppose one could experiment with textures too...
Taste the rainbow!
I did needlepoint for years, but it seems too fussy for me now.
I like mosaic because it's the craft equivalent of chopping wood or pulling weeds or something: it's really physical. I like working all night on a piece and then ripping it up the next day by prying the pieces off with a screwdriver. I like cutting glass and having it fly around the room, making little pinging noises. I like -- oh Chris, I'm going to make you cry -- using too much glue and LEAVING THE GLUE OPEN ALL NIGHT SO IT GETS ALL CRUSTY.
Also, I enjoy the vivd colors of the glass, and how you never know how a piece will look until after it's grouted.
So yeah, I think I'll stick with this one.
snorkeling is a craft i haven't tried. that, and knitting....but i do collect yarn. hmmmm, if i had to say what draws me toward the stuff i do it must be that i don't like clean hands. the common thread in every type of thing i do gets me dirty hands. well, except the new thing i tried recently (hats) which didn't get me too dirty, but it did make the house a mess. messiness. that's it. the messier the better. am i spelling that right?
Hmmm- my 2 crafts are mosaic and lapidary. They seem to be a lot the way I would like life to be. With mosaics you take all of these little disparate bits of stuff and somehow form them into a coherent 'big picture'. And with rocks, I am getting rid of the non-lovely, rough parts of a stone and ending up with something shiny and precious and revealed. Not that I will ever be shiny and precious and revealed, or that my life will form a lovely picture firmly grouted in place, but a girl can hope.
I used to do coiled basketry, but it seemed too temporary to me. Quince
i wish i could articulate how excited paint on paper gets me, but it is something subliminal! I have tried knitting, scrapbooking, polymer clay, even fabric but always end up back with rubberstamping paper and paint....
I am going to explore new things this year but any creativity, be whatever it maybe, is crucial as Lenny Henry would say!
Post a Comment