From pottery, pyrography and macramé, to carving, crocheting and even a Chris Hemsworth lampshade, Making It Australia is currently hitting Aussie screens on 10 and 10 Play.
The program showcases the connoisseurs of craft – exceptional people who possess the knack for creating something totally resourceful and mind-blowing out of a few pieces of string and a bandsaw.
After every episode, Chattr will be speaking to the Maker who was eliminated the night before. Today we spoke to Kids Entertainer, Kat.
What made you want to apply for Making It?
“I applied just for a little bit of fun! It was sort of a shits and giggles kind of moment, I thought why not? I had been taking acting classes for the past year, and it really built my confidence up and I had been just applying for different roles, unpaid roles, and stuff like that. Then I saw this thing for Making It and I thought, ‘well, I’m pretty good at art so you know what? I’ll just apply for it and see what happens’. And then I ended up getting on which was crazy. I definitely didn’t expect to hear back at all, let alone get on.”
What was your time on the show like?
“The time was amazing. It was filmed in Sydney, so the only thing that was a little bit of a frustration was the whole COVID situation. But they did really well with all the filming and all the production, and we’re all there in this nice space for us to stay in. Even just with being with the contestants, I don’t know how to emphasise how much I enjoyed the experience because of the contestants. Obviously I didn’t do too well in the first episode, I got eliminated – and I did shed a few tears at the end. But honestly, it was more because I had to leave everyone. I just can’t believe how well everybody mixed, you’re always kind of hesitant or nervous about meeting a bunch of new people, but they just are the best bunch of people I’ve ever met. So creative, so helpful. They really made it such a good experience. Regardless of the outcome, I had a great time. So it was a win-win for me.”
You got to represent your Irish heritage and your Grandfather on the show. That must have been pretty special?
“Definitely. I wanted to bring my family into it however I could, and seeing it on TV last night bloody made me bawl my eyes out. Then I was inundated with messages from family like ‘why the hell would you do that, I’m sitting here crying!’. So it was really nice that I got to do that for my family, because he was such a big part of all of our lives, and continues to be in spirit. I don’t think any of them expected to see him up on the screen. I knew that was coming, but I didn’t prepare for it to be that emotional. I’m just glad I got to do some sort of a tribute to him, he would have loved to see it.”
What would you say to people who don’t believe they’re crafty enough to try this sort of thing?
“Art is interpretive. You could make something so silly – take Jack’s first piece, for example. That was just a whole bunch of random stuff glued together, and it just worked. You can just use whatever, you don’t have to be able to draw a straight line to be able to do art, you can just take your time, do a bit of practice, let things flow and just get creative. It doesn’t have to be perfect, because that’s art. You look at some of the most famous paintings in the world, they don’t all follow one criteria. Anybody can do art, just put a little bit of time towards it.”
What’s next for you?
“I recently started studying for my cert three and four in fitness. So I’m actually studying to become a PT, which is something that I’ve always wanted to do, I just haven’t really ever had the balls to do it. On the creative side of things, I’m stepping more into photography now. I had a camera a few years ago, and I really loved taking photos. It was a quite a nice escape for me. It gives me similar sort of endorphins as painting and crafting but, you know, less pack up and clean up. I recently just bought a brand new camera, so I’m hoping that I can just start doing that a little bit more now and taking more of my hobbies a bit more seriously.”