CATE’S FIRST BLOG

4 minute read

I’m Cate- wife, mother of three, primary school teacher and DIY extraordinaire.

I am a ‘can do’ girl. I wear the handy lady pants in our household. There is much I can’t do particularly well, but little I won’t try my hand at.

My creative roots were planted in the very early days of my childhood. The youngest child of 5, to parents who afforded me the freedoms to daydream and engage in creative play. I grew up watching my Dad tinker, build and problem solve any required fix, and learning from my Mum that women are free thinking, independent and capable of achieving anything.

Creativity has always played its little tune in the back docks of my life, but primarily it’s the creative problem solving skills I learnt as a child that have driven the successes and sense of self I have in my life today.

It has taken years to recognise within myself that I am a creative. My talents don’t fit nicely into a square box where I can package myself as any of the forms of an artist. I quite literally am, a ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’, and to be honest, this is just the way I like it. Versatility is my thing, and what I possess that makes this possible is a mind of logic and an impressive visual memory where I can learn from as little as a simple image, and occasionally a little help from Google.

I chose a career in a field where I could develop these passions and hopefully instil in the minds of young children the same creative problem solving skills I gained as a child. These skills are so profoundly important, as the future of human work will be based around technology and creativity. Most importantly though, it has so many different applications in life and the positive implications of being a creative problem solver are plenty. Resourcefulness, confidence, perseverance and self-discovery are what I have gained from my creative journey and my hope is that if you are here, you might be starting on a journey of creative self-discovery with us.

Apart from the everyday applications of creative problem solving, I do have some creative pursuits where I escape the everyday and get lost in my craft. I play with fibre a lot of the time- macramé, weaving, embroidery and sewing. I love playing with timber and I’m pretty handy on the tools, but if I’m completely honest I am like a kid in a candy store who can’t pick what she loves the most. Recently I have taken on the task of learning block printing and calligraphy and there is always excitement brewing about a new project in the pipeline. I should probably pick my favourite candy, but where is the adventure in that!

My individual journey amidst this wonderful creative trio will be full of invention, experimentation and lots of mistakes. I will think big, sometimes fail, but I won’t give up. So slap on your lippy ladies, and grab your tool belts, I have so much I am itching to share with you!

Cate ♥