Quickie Question: Favorite Craft in School?
By TwistieI don’t actually have that many fond memories of school. To say I wasn’t popular is a laughable understatement. And of course there were subjects that bored or confused me with teachers who had no clue how to reach me. That happens. Learning is something I adore, but formal schooling and I were not the best of friends.
Still, there are bright spots in my memory of those days. I’m sure it will come as no great surprise to many of you that quite a few of them revolve around handcrafts.
Probably my single favorite, though, was the section in my high school art class that was spent learning to make various kinds of prints. I loved silk screening, in particular. I tend to enjoy fiddly bits, like fjords, so the precise cutting with the craft knife appealed. Oh, and while I have had many an anxiety issue, knives are something I’ve always felt comfortable with. Then there was the fun of smooshing the paint through the screen. In some ways it reminded me of playing with dough… hmmm… and suddenly I’m getting why this appealed so strongly to me: there are a lot of parallels with baking, which is one of my favorite things in the world to do.
And as with baking, there’s the joy of the reveal of the finished product. Whether it’s a loaf of crusty bread or a cool design on a tee shirt, there’s nothing quite like transforming humble materials into something unexpected and useful.
What about you? Is there a craft you learned to do in school that you found particularly rewarding? Is it something you still do?
September 17th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
I was a total academic nerd and spent most of my high-school career reading anything I could get my hands on regarding Elizabethan history. Since I lived in a small town, there weren’t many books available, and I was forced to do a lot of rereading. I was so much of an academic snob that I did not take anything that was remotely crafty (I sing, so the performing choir was my preferred elective) and I learned all of my craftiness at home or at 4H. Mom taught me some rudimentary needlework and crochet, I taught myself the rest, or ignored it as I saw fit. Sewing and knitting I learned from 4H. The rest of the time I was blissfully absorbed in Elizabethan politics. I was a weird child.
September 18th, 2012 at 3:57 am
I’m not even remotely a spring chicken AND I live in Europe, so……. we had “handicraft” in school (i.e. knitting, crochet, sewing, mending, embroidery, etc. Later we also had cleaning and cooking). The boys had algebra and geometry. Later, when it became clear that I was going to continue my education, I joined the boys. But shortly before Christmas there were usually several afternoons devoted to crafts. Batik one year (loved that), papiermache the next (loved that – I still have the handpuppet I made), enamelling (really loved that – my entire family got swamped with enamelled jewelry for Christmas). Sigh. I’d love to have a few free afternoons to experiment with crafts again….