Many of us make things with our hands because we like seeing pieces and parts start in a specific state and then, through our intentions and manipulations, transform into an object in a completely different state. With fiber and needles and hooks and other stuff we create what springs up in our imaginations. It’s our form of magic.
Reuse and recycle is a hip concept in today’s creative circles. It’s a trend that makes me smile because when you grow up on the farm, or have parents who lived during the Great Depression, careful use and reuse of resources are a way of life. I come from a long line of people who like to take parts from one thing and turn them into something else. They build things out of practical needs but they also like to create for creativity’s sake. If they can throw a little humor in the process, all the better.
My dad is a retired farmer and his creative medium has been what some would call junk. He’s the guy who has the 3-pound coffee cans full of cast off metal items. Most people look at his raw materials and see parts. Dad sees this . . .
The cap off of a 50 gallon oil drum becomes a seat, a part off of a soybean head from a combine becomes a chair back, chain link becomes hair, ball bearings become bosoms, and a few days later, I’m gifted with his original creation. Rodin sculpted “The Thinker”. Dad sculpted ”The Knitter”.
I love her for so many reasons. She has glasses like mine and she’s laughing.
I love that he got the needles right and that the chain links he used to represent knitting actually look like the stockinette stitch. I love that this is his first kinetic sculpture. It rocks (in more ways than one)!
The thing I love best is he took things that had been cast off and re-purposed them into something that represents my passion. This Knitter comes from Dad’s hands and his heart and his creative soul. It suits me to a tee. Thanks, Dad!