Over enthusiastic gifts

Hats that are too big and hats that are too small

There’s always more enthusiasm than skill in the gifts I make. I’m usually against the clock because it’s always made the night before the event. Usually I’m making the gift on the floor. It’s not like making work.

Making a gift for someone is low pressure. There is still some pressure, I want it to be “good”, I want them to like it. But it’s not the same as making work, because I’m not looking for the same type of approval. I'm looking to delight not to impress.

When I’m making a gift I keep moving, paint and paper and scissors and glue all get taken out willy nilly without a concrete plan. There are trial runs to figure out the best way to make whatever it is. If I can’t figure it out I try again and I’m not frustrated, I’m intrigued. Several rooms and the corridor between them are littered with offcuts, there’s masking tape on my elbow and paint on my sock.

late at night making paper animals again and again

And then it's finished and it isn't perfect. But it's something and it has enthusiasm and love in it's fibres. It only has to delight for a brief moment. My job doesn't depend on this gift, future work opportunities don't depend on it. It is just itself, its gloriously wonky self.

Working on work involves more sitting on a chair. More trying to get the drawing right and then getting annoyed and trying again. Checking the schedule to see if I have enough time to re-work. More planning of colour and materials before the spontaneous painting part (when I do stand up and sometimes lie on the floor). Then there’s digital editing to get that spontaneous energy exactly right. And it isn’t finished yet because now there’s taking in client feedback and amending, everyone trying to make the project as good as it can be.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that feeling of obsessive joy that comes from making a gift. Wondering if there’s a way to bridge the carefully considered professional work with making a gift to delight someone I love. It's possible that I could ruin both things - sloppy professional work and overwrought gifting. But there have been a few times when a client job has felt as exciting and compelling as making a present, and I think my work is much better for it.

Of course, it is difficult to think of client work as making a gift - it’s hard to stay positive if the recipient says “It’s great but can you change it? By tomorrow?”

I’ve decided to consistently do both things - making more gifts on the floor in between working sensibly on the desk. That way, a bit of playful magic can waft up from the floor and float on to the desk ✨ ✨ ✨

What’s the most enthusiastically wonky thing you ever made as a gift? What about when you were a kid?

Recently, I’ve gifted handmade hats that are too big and hats that are too small. I’ve gifted folded paper animals that don’t stand up properly. I gifted a song on a ukelele - it was the first time I picked up a ukelele and I am tone deaf, but it was joyous and was received with genuine delight.¹ As a kid I made an aquarium from a cardboard box for my baby sister, a “nose-warmer” from cotton wool for my Dad and an over-ambitious copy of a Raphael drawing for my Mum.

a paper cat, a too big hat, and a . . . caveat? (unfortunate sounds of my ukelele playing not included)

Tell me what you’ve made for someone you love - I bet you made something amazing!

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Ps - Have you subscribed yet? When you do, you get a gift that I made for you - a mini zine of tips about drawing from life when you’re worried about drawing from life.

1. I know because it was for my husband Phil who can't keep any opinions to himself and he laughed and kept the video of the performance