Everyone is as Unique as a Snowflake
Chrissy Schreiner
There is a reason I’m not in visual arts. I like having set instructions telling me what to do. When it comes to being creative with my hands, I try my hardest, don’t get me wrong, and do succeed sometimes to make a beautiful little burst of creativity. But when it comes to creating purely out of my own imagination, I’m at a loss. Ask me to make a flower out of an empty chip package and I will try my hardest to create something gorgeous, but hand me a canvas and a set of paints and I will stare blankly at you like a robot. Does not compute. How does one let a brush flow smoothly over a medium to craft something so pure and unique, without looking like a 4 year old child’s latest landscape graciously placed on the fridge by their parent? This is a skill I have yet to master. There is a time that is an exception to my ‘stay away from visual art’ rule. And that time is nigh. Christmas is the time of year when everyone’s differences get thrown aside. Christmas is the time of year when I get crafty. After all, Christmas is the season when all, from CS majors to PACS students gather together and eat shortbread to their hearts content. So what the thing that lets me be creative?
Snowflakes. To me, snowflakes are the perfect blend of creativity and mathematical precision. An algorithm with the ultimate amount of space for creativity. So become a muse to the amusing craft of paper cutting. Be one with the scissors. Yes, it may take some time to figure out how to make snowflakes with 6 edges (sorry to all those who end with beautiful hand crafted, well… umm, squares) as nature intended. But the final product will be something to be proud of, a masterful craft you would be proud to have a parent display on the refrigerator of triumph for years to come.
Chrissy Schreiner
There is a reason I’m not in visual arts. I like having set instructions telling me what to do. When it comes to being creative with my hands, I try my hardest, don’t get me wrong, and do succeed sometimes to make a beautiful little burst of creativity. But when it comes to creating purely out of my own imagination, I’m at a loss. Ask me to make a flower out of an empty chip package and I will try my hardest to create something gorgeous, but hand me a canvas and a set of paints and I will stare blankly at you like a robot. Does not compute. How does one let a brush flow smoothly over a medium to craft something so pure and unique, without looking like a 4 year old child’s latest landscape graciously placed on the fridge by their parent? This is a skill I have yet to master. There is a time that is an exception to my ‘stay away from visual art’ rule. And that time is nigh. Christmas is the time of year when everyone’s differences get thrown aside. Christmas is the time of year when I get crafty. After all, Christmas is the season when all, from CS majors to PACS students gather together and eat shortbread to their hearts content. So what the thing that lets me be creative?
Snowflakes. To me, snowflakes are the perfect blend of creativity and mathematical precision. An algorithm with the ultimate amount of space for creativity. So become a muse to the amusing craft of paper cutting. Be one with the scissors. Yes, it may take some time to figure out how to make snowflakes with 6 edges (sorry to all those who end with beautiful hand crafted, well… umm, squares) as nature intended. But the final product will be something to be proud of, a masterful craft you would be proud to have a parent display on the refrigerator of triumph for years to come.