Creativity and Me

My first steps into the creative world were through knitting.  I started in the late 1980's, when knitting was hitting a certain level of popularity.  It was nothing like today, however.  Today, there are so many more sources - - books, magazines, YouTube videos, retreats, websites of all shapes and sizes, and, of course Ravelry.

I was lucky to find Kristin Nicholas early in my knitting.  At the time, I did not know her, but I was familiar with her patterns from when she worked at Classic Elite Yarns.  She did a lot of designing and everything else for them back when she was the Creative Director.  I was drawn to the series of small booklet patterns that came out in the last 1980's and early 1990's. My favorite (as evidenced by the autograph) and most used (as evidenced by the tea stain) was and is Outlandishly Happy Gloves. The yarn used in these patterns was Tapestry by Classic Elite.  It was a heavenly worsted weight yarn in the most deliciously, yummy colors.

These patterns provided a template and it was up to the knitter to decide what motifs and colors to use.  There was nothing like this on the market at the time that I ever saw.  It gave me and other knitters the chance to explore creativity within a strict set of limitations.  Also, the projects were much smaller than knitting an entire sweater.  This has a direct parallel to the idea of daily painting with painting often and painting small.

Here is an early glove.  I loved this pair so much that the fingers were re-knit many times, until I lost one of the gloves.  As a side note regarding value in using of color, the pink and orange in the pinky are too close in value.  They sort of fade into each other.  This is another useful crossover from knitting to painting!

I've had the good fortune to meet Kristin and better yet to attend classes, twice at her farm.  She is a whirlwind of creativity.  The second class was in May 2015 and it was a class about fabric stamping. On the second day of class, I played with making a block print.  This required drawing.  I had brought pictures with me as inspiration for the fabric stamping and I decided to use one as the basis for a block print.  The problem was that I was scared to draw.  More accurately, I was absolutely petrified to make any type of mark on a piece of paper in the form of a drawing.  My fear was deep and primal. That day with Kristin's prodding, I did a test drawing on paper, did a follow-up drawing on a rubber block, carved out the block, and printed it.

The world did not end and I discovered that the eraser is my friend.  

I don't think that I would be drawing or painting today if it was not for Kristin's inspiration over the years and, specifically, the class that I attended last year.  Her blog continues to inspire me and she had a wonderful post last week that sparked this blog post.   

There are people, like Kristin or Kat (who taught the painting classes that I took this spring), who start drinking from the well of creativity early in their lives.  For the rest of the us, the well is out there and waiting.  Find a teacher.  Take a risk.  Try something new.