I grew up in a house alive with creativity. My mom and dad were designers who made clothes, so our home was always filled with textiles, buttons, threads, and the hum of sewing machines.
I spent my childhood surrounded by the tools of their trade—paper, pencils, and fabrics of every color. My mother, always bursting with creativity, turning everyday moments into lessons in artistry. It felt like anything was possible.
I really enjoyed this. It's been something I've been dwelling on recently: what cultural inheritance my wife and I might be passing on to my own daughters (I became riddled with anxiety that perhaps there wasn't enough being passed on). My eldest went to her first overseas music festival last week and watched one of my favourite artists performing. And then that same week I could hear from upstairs my younger daughter singing out a favourite old 80s song whilst she was in the shower, and I realised that maybe we did OK. I really struggle to remember anything that got passed down to me from my mum and dad though: perhaps a love of football, via shared viewing of Match of the Day with Dad....
It’s so interesting how pervasive creativity is, even when the maker doesn’t see themselves as creative. I think especially women undermine their expressions as true creativity or artistry.
I’m grateful my parents saw a creative curiosity in me at a young age and fostered it through art classes and found other inspiring adults to introduce me to experiences they didn’t feel they themselves could offer.
The is so interesting! I think people tend to muddle creativity with the identity of being an artist and having no money/being tortured, etc. My mother would say she’s not creative but she can plan a trip like no other
I love your post as it conjures up an other angle of looking at my parents . I never believed my mom to be artistic in any way . She wasn’t obviously creative yet she injected bits of creativity into her decorating our home with her colourful 60’s palette .. she fashioned me a snoopy costume when I was 10 and rescued my Winnie the Pooh stuffy project from a sad fate with her superb sewing skills ..
my dad called himself a Sunday painter - but I’m positive that he would have made a career of his painting if his time period had allowed him not to have “a serious job” he painted on holidays and occasionally on a weekend and his art was brilliant and unique . He supported me in a more obvious way with my art throughout life . I don’t believe either of them thought art was a serious career pursuit however being post depression and war time people
My parents took me to art galleries and museums, concerts, ballet and light opera. I was encouraged to read a lot. My Mum knitted, did the occasional tapestry and painted watercolours when she was younger.
I've been thinking about your post all day. I grew up a working-class kid with parents who didn't have a lot of headspace for being obviously "creative"; my mom was a part-time bookkeeper and later an accountant, my dad worked retail at a grocery store for 40 years. I got a lot of grief and warnings as a kid to not "spend all my time writing a story," or not "be consumed" by writing projects.
And yet.
All four of my grandparents were creative, artistic people, each in their own way. Both my grandmothers sewed and did needlepoint. One grandmother made and sold child-sized dolls (I remember her bringing a few to my second grade classroom); the other made quilts and my christening dress. One of my grandfathers was a woodworker; the other was a talented line drawer and painter; both had gardens mostly for their aesthetic appeal. My mom made all our Halloween costumes, and stenciled the walls of my bedroom; my dad made me a bookshelf and finished parts of our house himself. And made and sold his own altered "off-brand" Pez dispensers on eBay for a few years.
I think in my family, most of these things (except the Pez dispensers) went in a different category because they were "making" hobbies instead of "just playing around with stories." But I was definitely taught, implicitly, that sometimes doing something just because it was fun was well worth doing.
I loved this. I grew up in a house where there was always an assortment of pens, pencils, paint, crayons, markers, etc available…. To the extent that once went to someone’s house as a child and came home and exclaimed in shock to my mother, “they didn’t have any art supplies!” Which I think had led to an adult choice of always keeping creative supplies close at hand.
The absolute joy of going to an art-supplies house as a child! One friend's parents had a batik kit, which was the most exciting thing in the world. I always, always have making stuff lying around - my child self would be very happy
My parents read a lot. They encouraged my poetry and reading. The problem they had with creativity for them as scientists (doctor and psychologist) was how to go about encouraging a career path. They looked to examples from the past to try and help. Scientists who wrote novels for example.
I love the thought of them seeking out creative scientists for you. "Well, I'm not 100 per cent on how this works, so lets find some evidence and present it"
Ahh I so loved reading this substack Rebecca. My father used to dabble in watercolour, and learnt the saxophone in his fourties and has a way for explaining things with diagrams. My mother, who would say she is not creative at all, really actually is, having found and unleashed it in the last 10 or so years with sewing, embroidery and a bit of knitting - making things mostly to sell for charity or give as gifts - she even has a dedicated craft room but still doesnt think she is creative or talented. Her creativity comes in bursts of lots of activity and then a period of nothing, but I am so proud of her when she tries something new. I have a beautiful quilt she made with lots of different animal pictures in each square so you can point them out and make up stories. The twins also got one and I am sure my dad will make up some excellent stories for his grandkids, like he did for us growing up - splodge and vannessa the dalmations (not at all based on 101, my obsession as a child of course). But the person who I think is incredibly creative in my family is my brother, the way he thinks, comes up with jokes or nonsense on the spot and the way his brain works just astounds me. He would not think himself clever or creative but he is a natural at rhythm, jokes, spontaneity and humour in a way I never have been, and I admire it in him so much. Creativity and flare show up in so many different ways and I think the most important thing I have learned is to give it a go, you never know what you will be good at, and the process of trying can be exhilarating. And you don't have to be "good" at something to enjoy it. Although contrary to this I have to admit, as I recently discovered when "having a go" at crazy golf, although I enjoyed it, I still don't very much relish being utterly terrible at something. 😂
The not thinking of ourselves as creative thing is so interesting, isn’t it?! My mum was a doctor and would have definitely said she wasn’t creative, yet she took me to galleries, took an art class and stuck her weekly pictures up on our shelves, always just for one week till the new one replaced it, took a music appreciation class, went to endless plays and concerts. I think the biggest thing she taught me, that is actually the real crux of creativity, was to embrace curiosity and the joy of trying something new.
Love this post so much, Rebecca. My creativity was actively stymied. I was discouraged from going to art school in favour of taking up a more ‘academic’ course. Spent the time when I should have been revising for my neurophysiology and statistics exams looking at the Kaffe Fassett books in my local yarn shop! It’s hard not to envy Claudia Winkleman’s childhood adventures but I am making an effort to give myself those inspiring experiences now.
The lure of the "academic" course to parents and also the fearful parts of ourselves. I love that your job is super creative - that instinct obviously found a way x
I grew up in a house alive with creativity. My mom and dad were designers who made clothes, so our home was always filled with textiles, buttons, threads, and the hum of sewing machines.
I spent my childhood surrounded by the tools of their trade—paper, pencils, and fabrics of every color. My mother, always bursting with creativity, turning everyday moments into lessons in artistry. It felt like anything was possible.
I really enjoyed this. It's been something I've been dwelling on recently: what cultural inheritance my wife and I might be passing on to my own daughters (I became riddled with anxiety that perhaps there wasn't enough being passed on). My eldest went to her first overseas music festival last week and watched one of my favourite artists performing. And then that same week I could hear from upstairs my younger daughter singing out a favourite old 80s song whilst she was in the shower, and I realised that maybe we did OK. I really struggle to remember anything that got passed down to me from my mum and dad though: perhaps a love of football, via shared viewing of Match of the Day with Dad....
It’s so interesting how pervasive creativity is, even when the maker doesn’t see themselves as creative. I think especially women undermine their expressions as true creativity or artistry.
I’m grateful my parents saw a creative curiosity in me at a young age and fostered it through art classes and found other inspiring adults to introduce me to experiences they didn’t feel they themselves could offer.
The is so interesting! I think people tend to muddle creativity with the identity of being an artist and having no money/being tortured, etc. My mother would say she’s not creative but she can plan a trip like no other
I love your post as it conjures up an other angle of looking at my parents . I never believed my mom to be artistic in any way . She wasn’t obviously creative yet she injected bits of creativity into her decorating our home with her colourful 60’s palette .. she fashioned me a snoopy costume when I was 10 and rescued my Winnie the Pooh stuffy project from a sad fate with her superb sewing skills ..
my dad called himself a Sunday painter - but I’m positive that he would have made a career of his painting if his time period had allowed him not to have “a serious job” he painted on holidays and occasionally on a weekend and his art was brilliant and unique . He supported me in a more obvious way with my art throughout life . I don’t believe either of them thought art was a serious career pursuit however being post depression and war time people
My parents took me to art galleries and museums, concerts, ballet and light opera. I was encouraged to read a lot. My Mum knitted, did the occasional tapestry and painted watercolours when she was younger.
I've been thinking about your post all day. I grew up a working-class kid with parents who didn't have a lot of headspace for being obviously "creative"; my mom was a part-time bookkeeper and later an accountant, my dad worked retail at a grocery store for 40 years. I got a lot of grief and warnings as a kid to not "spend all my time writing a story," or not "be consumed" by writing projects.
And yet.
All four of my grandparents were creative, artistic people, each in their own way. Both my grandmothers sewed and did needlepoint. One grandmother made and sold child-sized dolls (I remember her bringing a few to my second grade classroom); the other made quilts and my christening dress. One of my grandfathers was a woodworker; the other was a talented line drawer and painter; both had gardens mostly for their aesthetic appeal. My mom made all our Halloween costumes, and stenciled the walls of my bedroom; my dad made me a bookshelf and finished parts of our house himself. And made and sold his own altered "off-brand" Pez dispensers on eBay for a few years.
I think in my family, most of these things (except the Pez dispensers) went in a different category because they were "making" hobbies instead of "just playing around with stories." But I was definitely taught, implicitly, that sometimes doing something just because it was fun was well worth doing.
I loved this. I grew up in a house where there was always an assortment of pens, pencils, paint, crayons, markers, etc available…. To the extent that once went to someone’s house as a child and came home and exclaimed in shock to my mother, “they didn’t have any art supplies!” Which I think had led to an adult choice of always keeping creative supplies close at hand.
The absolute joy of going to an art-supplies house as a child! One friend's parents had a batik kit, which was the most exciting thing in the world. I always, always have making stuff lying around - my child self would be very happy
My parents read a lot. They encouraged my poetry and reading. The problem they had with creativity for them as scientists (doctor and psychologist) was how to go about encouraging a career path. They looked to examples from the past to try and help. Scientists who wrote novels for example.
I love the thought of them seeking out creative scientists for you. "Well, I'm not 100 per cent on how this works, so lets find some evidence and present it"
Ahh I so loved reading this substack Rebecca. My father used to dabble in watercolour, and learnt the saxophone in his fourties and has a way for explaining things with diagrams. My mother, who would say she is not creative at all, really actually is, having found and unleashed it in the last 10 or so years with sewing, embroidery and a bit of knitting - making things mostly to sell for charity or give as gifts - she even has a dedicated craft room but still doesnt think she is creative or talented. Her creativity comes in bursts of lots of activity and then a period of nothing, but I am so proud of her when she tries something new. I have a beautiful quilt she made with lots of different animal pictures in each square so you can point them out and make up stories. The twins also got one and I am sure my dad will make up some excellent stories for his grandkids, like he did for us growing up - splodge and vannessa the dalmations (not at all based on 101, my obsession as a child of course). But the person who I think is incredibly creative in my family is my brother, the way he thinks, comes up with jokes or nonsense on the spot and the way his brain works just astounds me. He would not think himself clever or creative but he is a natural at rhythm, jokes, spontaneity and humour in a way I never have been, and I admire it in him so much. Creativity and flare show up in so many different ways and I think the most important thing I have learned is to give it a go, you never know what you will be good at, and the process of trying can be exhilarating. And you don't have to be "good" at something to enjoy it. Although contrary to this I have to admit, as I recently discovered when "having a go" at crazy golf, although I enjoyed it, I still don't very much relish being utterly terrible at something. 😂
The not thinking of ourselves as creative thing is so interesting, isn’t it?! My mum was a doctor and would have definitely said she wasn’t creative, yet she took me to galleries, took an art class and stuck her weekly pictures up on our shelves, always just for one week till the new one replaced it, took a music appreciation class, went to endless plays and concerts. I think the biggest thing she taught me, that is actually the real crux of creativity, was to embrace curiosity and the joy of trying something new.
Being compelled as a child to stand in front of one painting for half an hour doesn't seem like something enviable to me.
Love this post so much, Rebecca. My creativity was actively stymied. I was discouraged from going to art school in favour of taking up a more ‘academic’ course. Spent the time when I should have been revising for my neurophysiology and statistics exams looking at the Kaffe Fassett books in my local yarn shop! It’s hard not to envy Claudia Winkleman’s childhood adventures but I am making an effort to give myself those inspiring experiences now.
The lure of the "academic" course to parents and also the fearful parts of ourselves. I love that your job is super creative - that instinct obviously found a way x