Creativity in an Autism House

I am looking forward to a few days respite to dive into 'Visual Quest', another online class I am doing.

http://pixiecampbell.com/visualquest

 It started just over a week ago and during the introductory lessons we were invited to share pictures of where we paint. I have seen some beautiful studios and workspaces but that is not how we do things here! 

It got me thinking about how I have developed little strategies and places to keep my craft equipment which make things as easy as possible to access whilst keeping things safe. 

I've posted before about my 'secret garden'. Basically we have a secondary bit of fencing with a bit of courtyard that has enabled me to have a container garden. I need to be able to grow things and I have a place to sit outside in peace :)

My knitting and crochet lives here....

If I keep it in baskets, I have somewhere to put it down quickly and safely. I can move it from room to room or put it all behind a door in seconds if I need to go and deal with something.

I keep projects with more complicated patterns or counting to do when everyone is finally in bed and have something more simple like the granny squares I'm doing for Wool Against Wespons  (in the pic) for times when I am around the boys. 

My art equipment lives in the cupboard under the stairs..,

I mostly paint at the dining table,

but if I have the boys around and they are fairly calm I will do some things in the kitchen. Usually projects that don't require too much messy paints or water at once!

I thought I'd blog about this because I frequently get asked how I manage to do the creative things I do given our living environment and stresses. The other question that often goes along with it is, 'How do you find the time?'

Well, the nature of my sons' autism means that I have more time spent hanging around doing low-level but constant supervision than people realise. They do participate in activities with us more and more but the time they would spend engaged in something is quite minimal. So I have the time if I choose the right hobbies. Also, having children who don't sleep means ample time in the evenings for knitting!

The question I don't usually get asked is 'Why?' I guess it's fairly obvious that it's nice to have a distraction and something for myself but it's also about creating and achieving something amid the chaos and difficulties that we face.

That is why!