| A Craft-Challenged Mum |
| Written by Vivienne Pearson |
| Wednesday, 13 May 2009 11:39 |
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I have always considered myself as being art and craft-challenged, although early in primary school I remember answering, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ with the words ‘an artist’. This flew in the face of the fact that I was neither good at, nor particularly interested in art. In Grade 6, I slaved over a stuffed toy that became affectionately known as the ‘elephant with one leg’. In high school, art classes were something to be endured rather than enjoyed, especially under the dubious tutorage of Mr Meerkin who was actually a graphic designer and liked our collage trees to be odd shades of purple and yellow rather than the more traditional green and brown. As Year 10 work experience loomed I decided to forgo the large paychecks that lured my friends to two weeks work at Sportsgirl and instead pocketed three dollars a day at a local primary school. Apart from finding staff-room lunchtime talk incredibly boring, my strongest memory is of being asked to create the gold medals that were to be given to each child on the last day of my stint which, unfortunately for me, coincided with the Olympic Games. Alas, my left-handedness, combined with poor quality scissors and thick gold cardboard made this one of the most difficult tasks of my life to date. I still recall the look the teacher gave me as I, many hours later, handed her a mess of bumpy-edged and not-quite-circular gold discs. She was tactful enough not to say anything but I knew I had not lived up to expectations. Undeterred, I found myself enrolling for university in an Occupational Therapy degree. OT started as a profession after World War II when craft was used as a rehabilitative tool for wounded and traumatised returned soldiers. Though few OTs use art or craft these days in their practice, this legacy still holds strong in people’s minds and I had to put up with lots of comments about basket weaving as I went through the course. The degree - at the time I was at Uni anyway - made sure that students had some art and craft training, so I found myself studying my least-enjoyed high school subject of woodwork rounded out with the odd day of screenprinting. Needless to say, I was lousy at both. At least I had been spared the trial of the old-fashioned entrance exam for OT where, according to legend, you were given a piece of paper and asked to make a functioning envelope without use of glue, scissors or staples. During a clinical placement I was encouraged to run an art-based group. Terror ran through my veins and I fell back on my screenprinting notes. My clinical placements brought many challenging moments, but the only one that reduced me to tears was the day that, with less than an hour before the group started, I could not master the art of stretching the screenprinting fabric over the wooden frames. With all of this in the background, I was understandably nervous when, in my new role as a parent, my toddler started expressing an interest in craft. How would I be able to guide, assist and instruct knowing that I am an abject failure in this aspect of life? To my surprise, I now consider myself a craft-whizz. My daughter is now three and together we have made all sorts of craft wonderpieces. She is usually the inspiration behind the ideas but I have been the creator. My earliest creation of note was a cardboard strap-on car (nappy box with ribbon over the shoulders), which has been in semi-regular use for over a year. Recently my daughter requested the addition of windscreen wipers and I proudly fixed on two straws, carefully selecting the bendy ones so that they could really swish! Other creations include a forest of trees (paper towel rolls with a variety of green paper leaves) for her giraffe family to eat, and a ramp/garage for her cars (small box, plastic from a pack of sliced cheese). I am currently working on a marionette puppet (hat elastic, straws and plastic inserts from a pair of baby socks). So what changed? Credit goes to Play School for releasing my inner craft self. This fabulous ABC TV program (and indeed Australian cultural icon) has provided ideas - I copied the basic design of the aforementioned car from them. But what has been the most freeing is seeing how the presenters are far from perfectionist and how they use everyday objects in the most entertaining ways. And it has been my child who has provided the inspiration. Her enthusiasm and creative initiative have given me the ideas and the motivation to have a go. Her age appropriate (i.e.limited) fine-motor skills and lack of knowledge about what materials are available mean that she is unable to put her ideas into practice without my help. Her appreciation and continual use of the craft creations gives me enormous satisfaction. The low-cost of the craft toys versus the shop bought ones has been extra incentive. My partner has provided the adult appreciation that is always welcome in a world of kid-filled days. He genuinely marvelled at my giraffe trees. He also started the collection of ‘useful box’ bits and pieces that I used for initial projects and now add to continually. Recently, a friend sent me a link to a webpage of a site dedicated to kids craft. The topic of the one she sent was Plastic Lids and How to Re-use Them. The email also came with a link to sign up to weekly updates. I’m holding off though. I’m worried that by getting too serious about it that I’ll draw myself out of my child’s world back into the adult world of craft, and that I’ll once again decide that I am craftily-challenged.
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