Page 88 - The Digital Cloth - Issue 5

Carol Macdonald

I always find it odd when
people ask me about my ‘art’
Art? Me? You must be joking? As
a very small child I, like most
children, loved drawing, not
that I was particularly gifted,
but it gave me a lot of
pleasure to create from my
imagination. This

self-expression was very soon
lost, probably at least
partly due to a somewhat
traumatic childhood, and a
father who informed me at the
age of 6 that neither he, nor
anyone else was interested in
my artwork. I was still
creative, I loved most crafts,

especially textile work and
constantly wanted to try new
ones. But only if there were
precise instructions and rules
to follow. Where there were
rules, there was safety.
Then in 1996 disaster

As a Modern Languages struck. One day, I just felt
teacher, I often had to produce too ill to get out of bed.
a quick sketch on the Little did I know that I was
blackboard (yes it was that to remain bedridden for more

long ago that we had or less the next 17 years,
blackboards) to convey meaning. and I still am totally
My attempts at this generally housebound. I had contracted
provoked much hilarity from my M.E. (Myalgic
students. They, like me, were Encephalamyelitis) known by
convinced of my inability to many as CFS (Chronic
draw or do anything artistic. Fatigue Syndrome). For a
long time, I couldn’t feed,