Girl Mechanic = Girl Artist

When I was a little girl I liked to make things like a house for our mother cat and kittens from a cardboard box. I cut out doors and windows from the sides of the box with a kitchen knife (I was sure my mother would never know why the blades on the sharp cooking knives became so dull). Taping two of the flaps together at the top created a slanting roof. The roof was open on either end- but no matter. Better to see the kitties, my dear! Then I painted the house with some leftover wall paint.

We didn't have Lincoln logs or building blocks (they weren't considered appropriate gifts for girls in the Baby Boomer generation) so I played with the Lincoln logs of relatives and friends- and loved them. Somehow there never seemeds to be enough green roof slats to finish the cabin. I could never figure that out.

My mother (who is otherwise pretty liberated as a woman) thought a more appropriate gift for me was a small weaving set with a loom just big enough to weave potholders. I would interweave the multicolored bands and my mother finished the edges- I can't remember if I was too impatient or just too young to figure out how to sew the edges. The set was fun for a limited time, didn't allow for creating your own projects- so it became boring.

In my brief time as a Brownie Scout, my troop appeared on a local children's television program. The producers gave away three gifts by raffle and I won one. It was a kit in which you could create small figurines by pouring molten wax into molds. When the wax cooled, you removed the figure and painted it with colors provided in the kit. The idea seemed cool at first- I felt like a mad scientist creating her own army of robotic humans who would obey my every command. But then I burned my fingers with the wax and was too impatient to let the wax cool enough before I removed the figures- are you starting to see a pattern in my artistic practice?

My first abstract sculpture was the wire frame of a discarded lamp shade covered with faded blue and white striped material that was once part of a pair of pajama bottoms. I thought it was cool but didn't know what to do with it. My mother looked at it and was totally mystefied. To this day she doesn't like abstract art. I didn't know then that many artists reuse discarded objects in their art. I still recycle discarded objects or modify new ones as models for my abstract images- boxes, styrofoam packing, material scraps, perfume and shoes boxes, florist accessories, etc.

At about age 10 I graduated to charcoal, pencil and paint on paper and canvas and gradually forgot about Lincoln logs and pet houses- until a couple of months ago when I happened across a book called, "The Girl Mechanic:  Classic Crafts, Games and Toys to Build." The book was created by the editors of Popular Mechanics magazine. When I saw the book I really wanted one- wow, cool! This kind of book is usually just for boys. Then I thought to myself, "This is silly. I don't have children and all my relatives who are children live too far away to create this crafts with it."

Then I saw the book at half-price on Amazon.com and knew I had to have it. Even though I know that I'm too busy as an artist to stop and make woven bracelets or doll house furniture or a swing set, I love this book! In the introduction the editors say the projects in the book provide girls opportunities to exercise the artist within- like creating abstract pattern drawings with a homemade "wondergraph" or weaving on a loom. "The Girl Mechanic is often The Girl Artist"

Mais oui, Mesdames et Monsieurs!  I've discovered my artistic roots! This causes me wonder why I've haven't done any sculpture as an adult- not yet, that is.
So if the girl artist within you is begging to come out and play or your know a girl who loves to create, I highly recommend this book