When my friend dragged me to summer art camp at 9 years old, it seemed like a good idea simply to get out of my parents' hair. Might have backfired for them though, since I spent the next decade dripping paint, sharpening pencils, loosing sewing needles, sprinkling glitter and kneading clay in their living room.
I selected every art class throughout school, and even though it was tied with English and Science as my favourite classes, in hindsight Art comes out on top. Throughout those lessons, the oh so patient art teachers guided the class through many different mediums. I'm incredibly lucky to have gone to schools with significant art departments.
I dried out my hands with clay...
Nearly took off a finger carving out a lithograph...
Tried out different types of drawings...
Scaled up in size...
Documented family trips...
Dug through recycling bins to create a kaleidoscope...
Wore off my fingerprints bending wires, and wore out my patience creating continuous line drawings...
And throughout all of that, nothing was bold enough, textured enough, colourful enough to keep me committed.
Until I gave my friend an art commission for her birthday, saying she could request anything she wanted. When she asked for a tapestry... I was thrown off. I've never had the patience to do embroidery. Mending clothes, making pillow cases? Sure. Could I offer a painting instead? But painting on plain canvas, even huge canvas, is boring...
So why not combine the two? Get the texture from fabric, the colour and detail from paint. As 2D or 3D as I want it to be. Able to be scaled up or down. Endless materials because people throw away clothes that can't be donated, and so many people have paint left over after a single project. So many pros, and the only con is that I can't get tapestries off my mind because I'm brimming with ideas and excitement. Constantly.
