As many of you know, I love a crafts. As a kid, I used to walk over to The Hobby Shop on Magazine Street just to wander the aisles for hours. That place was (and still is) filled with so much stuff – so much potential, and I just loved everything about it.
People who spend time creating beautiful things for seemingly no reason, are equally appealing to me. I don’t care if they’re making magnets or mugs (neither of which I use), I am just so into the concept of the innate urge for personal, artistic creation, that just being around makers makes me happy. It’s sort of like encountering a super talented musician in an echo-y tiled subway walkway. You just feel their compulsion and joy of expression.
One-of-a-kind illustrated art book covers by artist, Rebekah Amelia.
Recently, I was turned onto the work of Brene Brown. Actually, I should say that I have spent the past two weeks being blown away by her (most recent) book, Daring Greatly. Among many personal revelations I’ve had, Brown’s states that, “Unused creativity is not benign. It metastasizes. It turns into grief, rage, judgment, sorrow and shame.” Uh, whoa.
Woven textile by Mimi Jung for Brook&Lyn. My favorite discovery of the entire fair.
Making this connection between my own urge to create and my well-being has been huge for me. I need to play with materials, to explore, just as much as that dude needs to play violin in the subway.
Earthy ceramic necklaces by Jujumade.
So as a nod to those creators out there and the creator in me, I salute some of my favorite makers from this weekend’s Echo Park Craft Fair. These makers have seriously got it going on.
How about you? What kinds of things do you feel compelled to create?
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