This collage is dedicated to my first partner in crafting, Brenna Walsh. As an adult, I had not had very many female friends. The ones I did have, I had a tendency to view as competition rather than sisters. Brenna changed that. I started spending time with Brenna, and rather than just hanging out, we began creating together. She helped me learn how to make jewelry and developed my interest in photography. Our hangouts did not have a teacher/student dynamic, but rather we just had fun and encouraged each other to try new things. We played dress up, painted, collaged- pretty much any raw materials we could get our hands on, we wanted to make into something, even if it was something terrible. Over time, we accumulated quite a stash of goods, and deciding to try our hand at selling our wares. We staged our own shows out of her house, calling our collaboration “Sisters in Insanity.” For a girl who spent the majority of her twenties creating only in secret, to view my crafts as sellable was a huge step. It changed my life forever.
When I moved to Arizona, I struggled to meet people. I had spent my entire life in Colorado, surrounded by people who knew and understood me. I did not go to college right after high school, so I never really had an experience of being thrust into an environment of strangers and forced to make friends. My new workplace turned up to be a dead end as far as meeting people I would want to spend time outside of work with. I had never been one to meet friends in bars or random places. I was desperate. I went on meetup.com and found a craft group that had not held an event in awhile. I offered to host a crafternoon for anyone that was interested. At the first gathering, Lissa and Alice showed up. At the second, Chris became an addition. Chris had a huge assortment of friends, and pretty soon, our numbers began to grow and the PHUCS were born. We started out with little in common besides crafting. But over afternoons of sewing shopping bags and learning to knit, we got to know each other. True friendships were born out of a love to craft.
I guess I always loved to create, but I have women like Brenna and my fellow PHUCS to thank for helping me to gain confidence in my creations. Brenna continues to inspire me even though she lives all the way in South Dakota. This year for Christmas, she sent me a shopping bag from buyolympia.com .
On it, there was a silkscreen of a doll’s head with antler ears. A couple of days prior that, I had found a picture of some antlers that I knew I wanted to use in a collage, but hadn’t thought of the capacity. I began to think how I wanted to make a collage to commemorate how crafting has enhanced my life. In homage to my sister in insanity, I created twin girls, each with one side of the pair of antlers.
I started out by drawing them, and then began to collage. I wanted them to look somewhat like pictures of saints I had seen, as I believe crafting and the camaraderie that comes with it has had a profound and sometimes divine impact on my spirit. The craft supplies at their feet are offerings to the saints.
A girl who can craft is her own best friend. She can amuse herself in times of loneliness. But she can also use her craftiness as a gateway. Thanks to all my sisters in crafting out there. I am forever indebted.
