I love to make stuff.
I love writing, painting, making jewelry, making characters, toys, dolls, and I love to sew. Hand sewing, machine sewing, serging, all of it. I start off strong, then it turns into a fking disaster stitch wise.
Presser feet.
That’s the magic phrase.
I get too lazy to change the presser feet or whatever, and this usually ends up in my stitches looking like that cloud of dust that followed mf Pigpen around.
Pigpen…I mean, that was kind of a fked up nickname for that kid – why didn’t someone just pull his ass aside and say BRO BATHE FOR FKS SAKE? I mean, did he like being called that? Did he enjoy being gross? Was he a fking dirt alien and no one caught it? Sally probably started that nickname and soft bullying somehow. Bitch.
Anyway….
No, it’s not cute, or unique, or eclectic, or charming, or stitching with whimsical delight. It’s clearly amateur work, and I’m not gonna call it otherwise. Kind of like when I draw people and hide hands or hide an eye behind hair. That’s not artistic license, that’s me being like fk this, I’m not going to put the effort into fixing the hands or this eye that looks like a bird ate a worm and put it here.
Speaking of the drawing, painting, doll stuff, design…all of it…
ADHD is a massive superpower and a treasure trove of creative talent and drive. It’s also a bitch to maintain. However, the good news is that I am both left and right brained and my primary career is very analytical, detail oriented, and all about paperwork and compliance.
I can literally go through a work day, manage my time perfectly, hit every goal, make every deadline, produce immaculate paperwork, and then when I get home and decide to do something artistic, do the exact opposite.
No, seriously…people have been amazed by this for years…they’re like damn Kat…you’re so TOGETHER at work and on top of things, but then the artistic stuff is just…WOW.
They’re not wrong, btw.
Here’s what I’m gonna do. I’ve created literal daily syllabi for every damn day of the week for the entire month for tasks to complete after my workday. No, for real…and it goes like this:
- Monday: Pick one presser foot and sew a hundred straight lines/controlled stitches with it. Do not deviate. Do not cheat. Do not say fk this after line number 3 and go watch Devil Wears Prada 2 for the 3852798572489578294758927597th time.
- Tuesday: Draw a hundred hands. One. Fking. HUNDRED. Do not erase the shitty ones, do not start over, do not edit, do not get mad and scribble like a psycho all over the paper, throw the sketchbook down, and go watch Devil Wears Prada 2.
- Wednesday: Find something else other than Devil Wears Prada 2 to binge over and over. LOL, Psych. Pick an Andrew Loomis Plate and draw that a hundred times. Label each one. See it through, don’t be an asshole and give up.
- Thursday: Choose ONE COLOR and do one hundred form and rendering studies to work on values. Watch Devil Wears Prada 2 while doing this because you’re addicted to it at this point and there’s no use in trying to find anything else to watch unless it’s Wonder Woman 1984.
- Friday: Do one hundred figure drawing and animal drawing gestures. Don’t overthink it, don’t spiral, don’t get mad, don’t squirrel and start reading a book about 18th Century Naval Warfare. Get it done.
I wrote an entire syllable like this for the next month. I mean, because this is the only way I’m going to be able to hone both the left and right brain.
And watch Devil Wears Prada 2 as many times as I fking want.