Being Crafty...


My plans today were to relax and start undertaking some of those crafting activities that I have promised I would undertake for the past few months, sorry years. My creative fingers are itching to spend an afternoon with pencil in one hand and sketch pad in another. It is not that I can neccesarily draw so much as attempt to sketch, but it certainly is very therapeutic and soothing and I quite enjoy it. Usually undertaken when I am travelling, occasionally if I need to design something at home, but not as often as I would like.

I love the thought of creating some mega piece of artwork. I once did a small oil paint collage artwork and entered it in an open art exhibition at the local theatre where I lived. I felt quite proud seeing it on display and promised myself that I would design and paint more. It never happened. When we hosted an open art exhibition at the Museum a couple of years ago, with the theme of 'Remembrance' we didn't have as many entries as hoped. Cue an opportunity for Vincent Van Wooding to pull out the stops and put something together. Of course I left it to the last minute and although I knew what I wanted to do, it didn't quite turn out how I had hoped. I have the end result in my dining room but still feel it needs something to complete it...it is almost there. I know, the Sistine Chapel also took a few years to complete.

However, I do quite like to do a bit of felting. I am not an expert, but when I left Tullie House I had the idea that I would put together a variety of felted works inspired by both my travels and the world around me. Nice idea, but my initial attempts were hardly items you would want to display in your house let alone an art gallery! What I like about felting is the tactile nature of the whole process. Pulling apart the sheep's wool, adding soap and water before rolling it backwards and forwards, washing it and rolling it again, ooo it is just so satisfying. Plus, you get really soft hands into the bargain. All my high-flying ideas of a huge piece of felted artwork when out of the window when I realised what hard work it was and so I now tend to produce smaller pieces, of various colours, based on how I feel on the day I am felting. Infact, some of the felt went into the Remembrance artwork that I did in 2018. It was a green and grey day that time, appropriate colours for my 'trench' themed artwork.

Of course, lockdown and furlough should be  giving me plenty of time to russle up a Monet or Henry Moore, a Frido Kahlo themed art piece or Kurt Schwitters number. But, of course, that is not the case. I have tons of travel ephemera to sort through, label and put into scrapbooks (or use it for the Schwitters-themed art piece) and plenty of Guide badges to sew onto my camp blanket but somehow the time seems to disappear and none of these tasks have been started let alone completed. 

All is not lost on the creative front!  Do not worry folks, as I did manage to pull together a VE day party hat made out of newspaper, complete with instructions, for our wednesday workshop last week.   Phew, it is good to know that I just haven't lost my artistic touch...

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