My ART SAVES Story • by Cari Kraft

I never really thought about what my ART SAVES story would be until Jenny asked me to participate. For me, art has always been a part of my life. My family was very conscientious about using everything we had effectively. Not so much by choice as out of necessity. Growing up on a small, self-supporting farm, I learned young to make do or do without. Sometimes the challenge of making presents for the special people in our lives out of what we had on hand was half the excitement. Creating was almost second nature.

An Outsider
My grade school years were spent at a small country school with a total of seven kids. I was the only one in my grade. I always felt like an outsider because the other kids and their families socialized with each other, and half were cousins. There was no opening for an outsider, so I did my own thing, quietly and contentedly. It was hard but there wasn’t a lot I could do about it. I think my teacher must have noticed this and over time, she would try to include me with the two kids a grade above me, as I always finished my schoolwork early. It was partly to keep me busy and partly to get them to include me.

A Saving Moment
We were drawing thank-you cards for our parents as a project one time, and I got really involved in mine. My teacher was so impressed and made such a big deal that the other kids finally took notice and asked me to help them with their cards. I didn’t realize but that was my ART SAVES moment. That teacher, and others after her, were awesome at introducing new projects to us as we made our way through our school years. We did stained-glass ornaments (Who gives kids the freedom to work with cut glass and soldering irons without fear? Mrs. Sass, that’s who!), plaster of Paris casting, embroidering, painting, drawing, using glue and popsicle sticks, glue and match sticks, glue and whatever — we did it all. My mom still refuses to give me the ornaments I made her every year, claiming her tree wouldn’t be the same. She’s right her tree wouldn’t be the same, so I make new ornaments and share them with all my friends and family.

A Chance to Pass it On
Art and creating has been such a strong part of my life I barely give it a second thought as to how blessed I really am. I am really enjoying sharing my studio with my daughter who is moving out of her obsession with gel pens and colored pencils and moving into paint and embroidery; she is developing confidence in three-dimensional pieces and I couldn’t be more thrilled to guide her on to her own ART SAVES story.

To learn more about Cari Kraft, visit carikraft.typepad.com.

Comments

[meg]

I love this story and it reminds me of my own beloved supportive teachers. you go girl, you have always been one of my most admired heroes! xo

[rachel whetzel]

I love your story, Cari! I have some of your cool goodies from Etsy, and I love them!

[Jill Assman]

Oh yes! You, my dear friend are a TRUE artist! So cool to hear your story!
xoxoxo Jill