I like being creative and planning people's gifts. I know that some people won't appreciate what I've made and I'll just make a note to just buy their gifts from now on. Others will love the uniqueness of their gifts. And those people are the ones who make the creative process that much more enjoyable.
I can't post anything about what I've made until after Christmas (I have family members who actually visit Creative Yarnings). After Christmas though, I have plenty of topics to write about.
Besides finishing up everyone's gifts, I had to seal some ornaments that some girls had made during a lesson I gave a few weeks back. The weather here has been so miserable that I didn't get to seal the ornaments until Saturday (sealer is toxic to inhale and needs to be sprayed outside).
While spraying the ornaments, I thought about when I started painting. My grandmother was taking ceramic classes and she would take me (my mother was a single parent and needed someone to watch me on weekends while she worked). I was ten and staying still was a difficult achievement at the time. So my grandmother would let me paint from a selection of cast outs (ceramics that were faulty in some way). At the time I didn't know that I was painting ceramics that no one wanted. I just thought that the instructor was being nice and letting me pick pieces free of charge. I still have a couple of those pieces. I had fun in those classes and learned many of the techniques that I still use today.
Later, I painted ornaments at my church and the lady had us leave our ornaments so she could seal them (much like I had the girls do). When I returned for my ornaments, I was upset by the results. To make the ornaments look nicer, the lady had put glitter on them before sealing. I felt like she had ruined my ornaments. I liked them how I had painted them. I didn't want them all covered in glitter.
I remember this because as I was preparing the ornaments to be sprayed, I realized could easily sit down and "fix" the ornaments. But I would only be doing the same thing that the lady did. These girls worked hard on their ornaments. They practiced different techniques, mixed their own colours, and applied the glitter where they wanted it. Granted, they didn't paint the ornaments the way I would have. But who am I to judge? If I sat down to "fix" their work, what kind of message would I be giving these girls? That their work isn't good enough. That they can't rely on their own ideas. That isn't a message I want to give, so I sprayed the ornaments as they were, red snowmen, blue angels, purple trains. The ornaments are as as unique as their makers.
I didn't give them the painting lesson so they could be like me. I gave it so they could have another way to express their creativity. And these girls expressed it. There will be plenty of people in their lives who will try to douse the flames of creativity. I refuse to be one of those people. I want to encourage and nurture creativity. I want to see the potential become a reality. I don't want to be remember as the lady who ruined a child's art project.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.
Please donate to my transplant fund at http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforSolanaC/
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