Learning to be Creative from an Early Age

Ann Strecko Koeman has learnt to love and hate the gooey sticky stuff since she was allowed to use paste from a young age. As a child she used that yellowy syrup sticky liquid, looking like clear honey or diluted maple syrup, but it did not smell yummy.The stuff was messy and wet, but it worked for her construction paper crafting.After all it was the ’70’s! There was less care about acid free and archival quality.

Over the decades she has learnt different types of arts and crafts that all use a variety of adhesives; some smellier than others and some more convenient than others. She has also learnt that glues could be used as more than an adhesive when it comes to art making. It is only recently that she purposely started playing around with hot glue gun. This is because whenever hot glue drips, drizzles and is left to dry on a hard non porous surface such as tile or a silicon mat,it tends to lift off easily when it is completely cool. She has purchased a better quality glue gun that has a precision tip, is dual temperature and can be used without its long electric cord for short periods of time.

There is even glue like sticks that contain resin that can be melted in your glue gun and shot into these moulds to make super cute embellishments. Ann is pleased with all her experiments as their effects are so interesting. The possibilities of being creative for her are endless.