I was a very lucky kid to grow up in Berkeley, California in the 50s. I was lucky because my classroom included all kinds of kids and it formed the foundation for my appreciation for a world that includes all kinds of people. Unfortunately (or so I believed at the time) I was not the girl in my class who drew the most realistically. That girl was the one who was “the artist” in second grade. It was very binary. It was understood that she could be the artist and that the rest of us weren’t. But maybe I was the girl in my class who most wanted to be an artist. My early school memories are full of the delights of paper crafts, and my favorite part of writing grade school reports was illustrating them. The pleasure of colored pencils on paper is a strong sense memory I can still feel today, even when I was drawing hair follicles or tectonic plates.
Still believing I couldn’t be an artist, I didn’t even try to take any art classes in university, studying history instead. Happily, it was the magical decade of the 60s, and there were lots of opportunities all around me to explore my creativity. Kaethe Kliot was teaching classes in tapestry weaving at her store that would become Lacis, and my community college offered classes in ceramics, woodworking and pattern drafting.
My first job out of college was teaching preschool. We had an art room with supplies always out for whoever wanted to use them, and I came to see firsthand that each individual has unique gifts. I saw the miracle of children’s drawings before the rules of “reality” come down to limit them, and I began to rethink my second grade opinions. I began making puppets for the children in our preschool, then began selling them as a street artist in Union Square on the weekends. I got a book from the public library about the English tradition of soft toy-making at home, and a new world opened up to me. I was on my way to becoming a professional crafter.
At a terrible crafts fair I met another toymaker whose whimsical sock puppets and finger puppets delighted me. We became the best of friends and joined as partners in Wondrous Tales Toys. Throughout the 70s and 80s we designed and made animal character dolls, puppets and children’s accessories. We sold our designs at the Renaissance Fairs and Dickens Fair, we did wholesaling, licensing, teaching and contributed projects to books. We managed our handcrafting production in a small “cottage industry” workshop.
Eventually our paths changed and we went in separate directions. I got serious about a career in textiles and took advantage of the work-study program offered by Fiberworks Center for the Textile Arts in Berkeley. “Dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the textile arts as a fine art form, Fiberworks fostered and developed individual artist’s capacity for creativity, using textile as the principal medium of expression.” At Fiberworks I submerged myself in the nourishing environment and finally gave myself permission to own my creative spirit.
I’ve had many experiences as a designer since then, and across the years I’ve seen over and over again how wrong I was to believe my friend was the only artist in the second grade. That’s a childish and almost comical thing to believe. It’s almost comical because I’m afraid so many of us are hampered in our self-expression by that kind of limiting belief. It’s what gives the most brilliant of people impostor syndrome. And it’s what makes those of us who are not brilliant hang back from expressing our most audacious selves.
Someday we will teach children that every one of us has unique gifts. Like love, creativity isn’t limited to the special few, but is a human gift we all share. Every one of us who wants write to has a voice. Every one of us who wants to imagine has a vision. Every one of us who can pick up a pencil can draw. Every one of us who feels the need to make things can make something wonderful.
I really like my mashup word craftdesignworks. It sounds like a tinkery kind of a workshop and an affirmation, rolled into one. These days, thanks to the internet, there are seemingly endless opportunities for designers to connect with other designers and to connect directly to crafters. My craftdesignworks blog is my place on the web to share what I like, what inspires me and what I make. My goal is to encourage anyone who likes to make things from fabric and paper to join me, make what they like and share inspirations with this ever-growing creative community.
craftdesignworks 