Kaffe Fassett on craft and wellbeing

here's the thing is craft um i don't know maybe is craft always work for you now do you do craft uh i mean it clearly sounded like you were just compelled to do it when you when you got that first yarn um is it something you that you do for relaxation or is it something that i do the sort of nine till five or whatever the work day is and then put it down and then go to the opera that's a very good question and and i totally do it for for relaxation um i always have like a knitting project on the go uh you know this is just something i'm working on at the moment um you know which is a big sort of diamond thing yeah and and so i have this project going because it just goes on and on and on and one you know i don't have to think about it too much it's just repeating diamonds and colors um but i do that when i'm making quilts or painting i can only like paint my fabric designs for so long and then i just get kind of frustrated and i lose the thread so i'll just go and sit down in my corner and knit for a while put my soul back together right that physical working with your hands is something very different from painting um and it's why i took to it so well and love it so much and i'm you know with painting i always kind of lose the thread i always get to a point where i think i'm not really a good artist and why am i bothering and blah blah but with with making a textile i never have a moment's doubt it might not turn out like my dream in my head but i'll make another one i'll just start again and learn from what i didn't achieve in the first piece and just move on to the next and it's highly motivated every step of the way so it is completely enjoyable and not at all work and the work would be if you took it away from me because i am addicted to you know being able to make something with my hands yeah i love that that kind of um that quote where you said be putting your soul back together and i i think it is sort of deeply human isn't it to work with your hands absolutely i wonder what you feel about other people who don't work with the hands do you feel that some people are missing out do you think that and society i think of all sorts of jobs that that become i mean i work for a while as a national trust forester and even that job now the people who did the job that i used to do and nowadays spending most of their time sat in front of a computer drawing up management plans so that other people can go out and cut trees down or plant trees or whatever um do you think that the there's a craft revival perhaps on the horizon as people need this soul work to work with the hands i do i feel very hopeful i because i find that people more and more know what i'm talking about when i talk about the deep therapy of of working with your hands that you know and and i i know that people are discovering that for themselves hello kate um it actually builds a little bit on the previous question but i do you think enough emphasis is being put on craft for well-being um and i'm getting more crafting into school to help these kids particularly with lockdown you know how can we help people do more craft for their well-being well i don't know but i you know it i i we should just do everything we can to encourage it i mean one of the things that i do uh with brandon uh is is to go into prisons from time to time and talk to prisoners who are able to do crafts in their cells and um that is a fantastic thing and they love it they take to it just tremendously and i always felt that if they had had that in their childhoods or their growing up periods that they wouldn't be in prison i i'm convinced that it is something that it adds to my mental health um all of us are prone to get depressed from time to time and lose our way in life and being able to sit down and knit a wonderful show or something um it puts you back together you know it it it gives you more of a sense of identity and accomplishment and so forth i i see it in my workshops all over the world you know people just the joy they're like religious revivals these workshops people are so excited what they were able to accomplish when they're encouraged you

Channel: Heritage Crafts Association

Views: 2,088

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: yt:cc=on

Id: 47veBzb5XJc

Length: 5min 15sec (315 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 30 2020