There are many ways to approach lifelong learning. Some instructors teach you new skills that make your craft stronger. Others encourage growth in your spiritual self—exploration of the very nature of your being. And then there are the teachers who give you enough information to make your head spin, while also allowing you to wander off in your own direction, giving space for others to contribute to the learning process. It’s the generosity and openness of this last kind of instruction that I respond to best.
I’m a creative explorer. A chaos Muppet. A rule breaker when it comes to design and craft. I’ve never felt the need for instruction to learn a new technique; I prefer to jump right in and figure it out on my own. I’ve found that the best learning experiences I’ve had have mirrored that, kickstarting my creativity and pushing me to think in new directions. This is where I thrive.
My journey started at university, in a course called Art for Non-Artists. For someone who failed art in junior high school and decided this meant I’d never be an artist, this course was perfect. Week after week, we were assigned projects with the most minimal instruction. “Make a one-foot square cardboard box. Now change that box so that it no longer looks like a box,” is an example of an assignment that sent me off on a rambling tangent for days, and is a concept that I still use in my work today, morphing shawl shapes, collars, and stitches into complex forms and textures that give me a great sense of satisfaction.
All images by Kim McBrien Evans.
