The Curious Case of Creating

I loved reading about your first sewing adventures yesterday.  It seems to have brought memories for many of us, thank you for sharing!


So, he wasn't pictured among some of my other guests, but he's a big part of why we all create.  He tells us stories of painting rocks as a boy and going around the neighborhood selling them [actually making money].  But they weren't just ordinary painted rocks.  They were extraordinary, like the woman made out of 3 stacked rocks with a tiny pointy one at the bottom for her shoe.  He's adventurous, always up for something new.  His mom was a scrabble sensation which shows in his vocabulary.  If you want an opinion, he's the one to ask, because he always has one:  

Kurt W [no period] Knudsen:  

Oh, wait.  I meant this:

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I'm Katy's dad. And I'm compelled to create. I have been since I was Katy's kid's ages. It's not an option. I HAVE TO CREATE!  It doesn't really matter what (as you will see as you scroll down). It's having ideas in my head, and raw materials at hand, and then using those materials and my head and my hands to make something that didn't exist before. I don't want to be blasphemous, but it is god-like. It's exhilarating. It's fun!

I'm an artist. I'm a painter, carver, florist, gardener, stained glass star maker, and seamster (that's a man seamstress).
Why? I don't know. I guess I was born that way.
How? You have to be really courageous. And not care what other people think. And I believe there is a bit of discipline added to the mix. And you have to want to. And not just want to. You have to have to.

What's hard about it? No steady income. Sometimes no income. No 9 to 5. No one telling you what your job is for that day.
What's good about it? No one telling you what your job is for the day. You get to make stuff. It is so very satisfying.

What's the hardest/scariest part? Starting. I don't lack for ideas. I don't lack desire. I don't lack for skills (actually I often do--the skills part). It is beginning something that isn't there, that doesn't have an instruction manual or recipe to follow or photos of the finished product. SCARY! But once I've laid brush to canvas or sharp instrument to wood or scissors to flower stem, or needle and thread to fabric, the fear leaves and the fun begins. It makes me happy.

 I enjoy a good play on words.

I like to carve and paint frames that are an integral part of the painting.

I made this casket for my mother-in-law, Mary Deane. Her favorite color was blue. I also did the flowers. Note the painted polka dots on the two side arrangements (I'm big on color-coordination). Mary Deane loved high heels.  She wore them even into her eighty's. No frumpy gramma shoes for her! So sewn along the hem of the fabric are tiny silver high heels. Yes, she was buried in this casket. 

I also made my father's casket. He was a champion boat racer, so his casket was in the shape of his race boat.

And my casket is ready to go when I am. It is black and natural pine. I have carved in bas relief along the sides, little vignettes of my life. So no obituary necessary, just look at the pictures on the casket.

Recently I've been making blankets for the newly born grand children. 

 I also carve chairs for the grand kids.

I've made four of these topsy-turvy dolls. I don't know how to sew. I just fake it. Vincent Van Gogh said, "I am always doing what I don't know how to do, in order to learn how to do it." That's me in a quote shell.

This is my Asian Caucasian doll.

My Black and White doll. Is that politically correct?

So all you creative types. That's what I do and why I do it. I know your pain. And you know mine. But we both know the JOY!