Creating

Two nights ago was the first time in a while that I felt myself get really jazzed up and creative. I took my first screenprinting class at DIY Printing, courtesy of the lovely Wonder Boy, and it was awesome. There are five of us in the class and I was struck that everyone in the room was there for a love of creating.I love taking classes and reading about new things so I can learn more. I’ve always viewed my obsession with school and classes as a product of a love of learning, very much in line with what I saw my grandmother have. Now I’m wondering if her constant acquisition of new skills and hobbies was an opportunity to create and if I’m striving towards that same unreachable goal.

It might not sound much different but it gives me focus. Broad focus, but still.

I’m not taking sewing lessons because I like to learn about sewing. I think I end up cursing just about every time I sit down at the machine do and there have been more than a few tears. Holding a stack of napkins I’ve made. Looking at an ever-growing pile of baby bibs. It’s rewarding.

It’s tangible.

I work in a field where you can’t touch and feel what I make. (I guess you could touch my computer screen, but it would lead to fingerprints and me being angry.) When I print a photograph, I can point to something I captured. When I give someone a cake I decorated, I can point to what I did. When I make a piece of jewelry, I can hold it in my hand and show it off.

I have five more weeks of classes and during that time I’m going to be creating two projects. Three if I can work it out right, I’m a little overwhelmed by the possibilities. The teacher is giving us just enough instruction to get us started but not so much that we know exactly what we’re creating. It’s liberating.

My screenprinting instructor

Screenprinting vacuum table

This post originally appeared on Kate’s Point of View. © Kate. All rights reserved.