I’m one of the lucky ones who has a Creative Dad present in my life. He is not mentioned often here, since this is not a family blog, but a blog about (my) creativity. But today it’s Father’s Day here in Sweden, and I’ve made a spread about him in my art journal, phoned him to tell him I love him – and also found this great photo from this summer:

Pappa

Creative heritage

I’ve also been thinking a lot about my creative heritage lately, and where all this creative feelings I’ve found inside me comes from. When I have been considering I’ve always thought it came from my mom. But she is surely not the only creative person in our family? She craft a lot, and dad don’t I had to ask myself… My Dad expresses his creativity in other ways than my mother, but he is a very creative person too.

He has a train model world (Märklin), where he has created mini trees and hills, lakes and snow fields. The people who lives there are about 1,5 centimeter short and the houses are awesome with fences, gardens and little dogs running around. Remind me for Christmas and I will snap some photos of the little train world. It’s really cool. My dad has really big hands. I can’t imagine him making this world – but somehow he does!

The pond and the garden

Something fishy
He also practice his creativity in their garden, where he has built a pond, where the fishes live. He has made lots of flower arrangements in the garden, and a herb garden together with my mom. He is also a great chef, with lots of imagination and he is great when it comes to try new things. He cuts out every cool recipe he finds and tries it on the family before he treats any invited guests. My favorite food is Dad’s Chinese Stew and his Shrimp Cocktails with lots of garlic.

When I was a child he built an aquarium (and painted it in 1970th brown), he used to bake lots of breakfast bread for the family (says my mom) and he also built model boats (like Ejdern) with tiny sails – now collecting dust on the shelf in their living room.

Here is the spread I made for my dad in my Art Journal:

Min pappa

Do you think creativity reveals itself differently in men and women? Or is it just our way of looking at what’s creative/crafty that makes the picture differ?