Today we’d like to introduce you to Pandora Hobby
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I spoke to you in 2022 at the tail end of the pandemic I was still hosting virtual art meetups through Rendez-vous creatifs Nomades. I have always looked for opportunities to facilitate and encourage creativity. That’s how I got in with Art Hives. Slowly, as we went back to in-person activities my local library, re-established the art hive there in a bigger and better space. In the spring of 2023, I started freelancing with a local colleague who runs a festival -MTLlaplusheureuse (Happiness Montreal) and I hosted art activities in tandem with a spring clean in neighbourhood laneways. Besides that I was lucky enough to get a gig at a community center teaching crochet, Last Fall we added embroidery classes. I guess my recent career trajectory has been more and more art as therapy jobs. I was hired by the community center to offer art-as-therapy services to people living in long-term care facilities. Since August of 2023 I have been offering different workshops and activities 3 times a week to Alzheimer patients, other cognitively challenged people, and those rehabilitating from other medical conditions. It is incredible how few interventions most of these living arrangements offer their residents. I try to bring a little variety and joy into their spaces, preparing decorations for various seasonal festivities, and offering art, crafts, and companionship as I go. When I previously spoke to Canvasrebel I was predominantly working at my own practice, now I might be out there in care homes and events 5 times a week!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have seen the change in the focus of my work- working at something else so I can find time to be creative vs. being the engine for others’ creativity. Not to mention reinventing tools and workshops so they will fit in an hour! Working in care residences I try to offer a pleasant and uplifting opportunity to all. All engagement is therapeutic. I struggle with the idea that my exposure to creative practice throughout my life has been relatively constant, but many individuals haven’t had that privilege. It could be that art was seen as frivolous, but many have not been able to stretch that muscle, and do not see the point. I have to explain that it is the process, the colour, the light, it doesn’t have to be great work, it is great just to get involved.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I would honestly say that because I now have so much work to do creating activities that engage others I haven’t focussed on my own work recently. I keep at crochet, embroidery and macrame etc making various pieces but I am so pleased when I can introduce someone to simple gel plate printing and they want to keep their creation to personalize their space or decorate the clinical spaces they live in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.panoramicfibreart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/panfibre/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PandoraHobbyAkaPanOramicAkaArtattackz
Image Credits
all images, Pandora Hobby