I have recently had discussions with my Mum about craft. We rue the fact that people with very logical brains have to ask questions like “What are you making it for?” “What are you going to do with it?” What they have missed, is the point of the exercise, which is the pleasure that comes from actually making things.

The fact is, that everybody likes making things. I love making lists and writing things down in notebooks (or cutting and sticking!)  I also love making just about any craft item going. Some people enjoy making software, or music, or models, or food, or decorating.  I think I love all of these things.

I find it very sad that children spend so long in front of the TV, or the games console when they could be given pens and paper (yes and be allowed to get a bit messy!) or craft. I find it sad that they are made to play on the Nintendo Wii instead of learning to bake fairy cakes, or plant a sunflower.

I had a very privileged upbringing in that I was always making things. From little paper boxes, to drawing, to music, to lino cuts, to papier mache, to having a little patch of garden to plant my own thing in… You name it, I probably had a go at it. Is it any wonder that I have ended up in the creative industries?

Humans are made in the image of God and it got me thinking. God is the ultimate creative. I get most of my inspiration for my work or things I make from looking at His creation because it is just incredible. I wonder, whether anyone sat at his side when he was making the universe and said “Sorry, why are you doing that? Where is it going to go? Why make a wasp? Do you really have to spend so much on that iridescent paint for that particular fish? Is a snail shell really necessary when you already have a slug?” Or I wonder if he just made things that way because he loved it?

Creation is the ultimate painting. The ultimate sculpture. The ultimate photograph. I am looking at my little cat curled up on the sofa… He is so perfect. His magnificent stripes, his little pink nose and smiling mouth, the way his paws are curled around his head…  What must it take to have that kind of inspiration??

I wonder if Jesus liked making stuff? He was a carpenter (and fully God as well as fully man) so I would imagine so. What would his carpentry pieces have looked like? I mean, imagine if you had an original ‘Christ’, it’d be worth a fortune!

I’d love to know about Jesus’ childhood…  Did he kick a ball about in the street? Did he argue about who was friends with who? Did Joseph had to run the dads’ race on sports day? I wonder if he had to potty train or wear nappies?  Did he break wind?!  Who knows? These are the kind of details you never get in books, but the things I like to know about.

I might be thinking aloud, but that is just the way my brain works….  In the meantime, keep being creative!