I have always had a bit of a creative streak. Things that have good color, balance and composition please me to no end. But I can't draw or paint and have never had the money to pursue photography. So I found my creative outlets in other, sometimes odd, things. As a vet tech, I got immense pleasure in putting an animal into a nicely made up cage. A smooth blanket with a neatly folded 'pillow' blanket and another one waiting nearby to cover them up. Also, I looooove a well bandaged animal. Smooth, regular, non-lumpy gauze, cast padding and vet wrap wrapped in neat, regular intervals gave me a downright naughty tingle. Well stocked and organized drawers made me smile, too. I liked them fully stocked for their visual appeal almost as much as functionality. There was a variety of color and texture that had the ability to make quite an impact on the eye, if done right.
Also, I have expressed myself in other, more conventional, ways. Gardening and cooking are pretty standard outlets for people. Then, I fell in love with pottery. Which is great, but a little like an abusive relationship. See, what most don't know is that throwing on the wheel is hard and your piece may suck. Then trimming the bottom when it is a little dry is hard and you may do it wrong or break your piece. Then you fire it and you might do it wrong and it may explode or you might do nothing wrong, but the kiln gods hate you and it explodes. Now the glaze, applied properly, it's great. Applied wrong it can melt to your kiln shelf or break your piece.
Do you see what I'm saying? I have found the learning process to be long and frustrating. Some of my pieces are great! A couple are even art. Some have sold and many have been given away. But pottery and I have an on-again, off-again relationship. I just can't take the pain for more than a year or so at a time. Currently, I am planning to pick things back up in January. I'll be sure to bring conciliatory flowers, chocolates and baggie of massage oil.
But currently, I sew. That probably takes my coolness factor down a bit, but I can't help it. It started with a book on weird plushies and went from there. I now have a nice machine and fabric all over my office, bits of thread everywhere and a burning need to sew anything that comes into my head. I am even planning on opening an Etsy store soon, because my friends and family will only want so many bags and my nephews won't understand why the plushies have one eye or butt flaps. So far my kids only like the plushies that they requested in detail. Any I have made for my own satisfaction is met with confusion and the question, "Who did you make this for?". Hoping, I think, that it isn't for them.
So maybe my mission in life will be to make sewing cool in the mainstream. I have, to my delight, found that it's already kind of cool in alternative culture. It's the best way to get clothes that reflect your personality. Deconstructing thrift store finds is super cool. I may try that eventually. But first I would have to measure myself and, while I am a confident woman, I don't think that I want to know the actual numbers.
And now, my friends, I leave you with this.
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