JOIN USIt was a desire to turn her son away from gadgets that caused Ann Geo to take to the world of arts and crafts once again. Once she started, there was no stopping afterwards.
“When my son started using the laptop, phone and TV to occupy himself, I started looking for creative ways to engage him creatively,” says the user experience designer at Accenture. “I started with finger painting and food print painting for him. I used to share pictures of this on Facebook and when I got positive feedback, I started a blog called ‘Al things beautiful’. Soon enough, it grew into a whole new experience in crafting and I wanted to try out new techniques. Once my son started going to LKG, I started indulging in crafting whenever I got time.”
Her eye for the smaller details in life is evident from the many quirky and colourful artefacts that brighten up her page. From a plastic bottle that transformed into home decor to a bird house made from tetrapacks, her creative journey has been evidently rewarding.
“I like recycled crafts because I like the concept of making something from nothing. The tetrapack bird house is one of my favourite creations so far. I also fashion stuff from cardboard boxes. Most of us order a lot of things online and we have a bunch of these cardboard boxes lying around and they can be turned into fun things,” she observes, adding that she also does regular crafting like decoupage to create home decor which she uses to decorate her own house.
Her son has taken in her footsteps and is creatively inclined, Ann says proudly. “An activity we like doing during vacations is to go on art treks. In the autumn season, we collected the fallen leaves, assembled them into various shapes and observed the different colours and shapes. We have our own home art studio kind of setup where my son can paste his creations on a wall.”
While it been a deeply satisfying process so far, the hobby does not come without it’s share of challenges. “Crafting can be a little messy sometimes and there are always distractions. So to find consistent time becomes a challenge. I really have to plan it out. But there is no challenge in terms of finding inspiration, it is everywhere.”
The artiste believes that arts and craft is an important lesson for young children as it can transform them for the better. “There is nothing really better in life than to make something with your hands and share a piece of your own personality with the world. I hadn’t done crafting for a long time but when I picked it up again for my son, I started enjoying it greatly. I see crafting as a very important tool to inspire and empower children.”Ann is now looking forward to experiment with mixed media and more to take forward her interest in the vintage and rustic style craft.
(Ann can be contacted through her Facebook page ‘Al Things Beautiful’.)