Art vs Craft
If you are not an art or crafty person this my not make any sense to you, but that's ok.
Why is it that we seperat the art from the craft?
If you don't know me, I am going to school right now in fine arts, I'm almost done! I'm also an art/craft teacher. I have been doing this for a year and a half now and I love love LOVE it!!
Now that you know that. I want to talk to you about what I think about art vs craft.
During my school years my teachers and other art peers, in my class, were so against even the word "craft". You would never call some one "crafty". I didn't understand why, but I soon felt the same way. We strived to do something new, something different and edgy, but in the back of my head I felt restricted some how. How could I feel restricted? I was doing things I never did before and painting how I wanted to paint, but some how, I still felt like I was in a box.
Years later I got my job as an art/craft teacher. I enjoyed doing it, we did paintings, drawings, ceramics, and some crafts. I found myself struggling with the "Craft part". I was taught that "Craft" was bad, and it didn't mean you were a "True Artist". It was very hard to go against the grain. That summer and fall I didn't have any art classes at school. It's been years and years since I didn't have at least one art class to go to. The last time I had school with no art classes was in the 6th grade. So, for that summer, I had no one telling me what they wanted from me, I didn't have a teacher asking me to change a color or a line. I was on my own.
For the first month I couldn't do any art, I was so lost. I had no inspiration at all!! I was so frustrated! Here I was, all this freedom and.......nothing!!! That summer I kept teaching my classes. At work, the girls that I teach, wanted to do more craft projects. Slowly, I did more and more craft projects. At the end of the summer I had found myself thinking in a different way.
If being an artist is about breaking down ideas and thinking out side of the box, I was not doing that. I was too worried about doing something "craft like", that I couldn't do anything at all. I thought to myself, " I'm an artist and I can do what I want. Who care what others think...even if that other person was...'me'." So I started doing whatever I wanted... art, craft, both together. My ideas started pouring out of me, all I had to do was not care what the "Art World" thought! Yeah ...I don't do anything in the traditional way. I still have my own crazy twist to it. So here's to the artcraftsers! living in both worlds!
Be free..... from even your own ideas!!!
3 comments:
Excellent post!
Oh, man! I have gone around and around with this in my own head. If you string beads, it is craft. But if you use finer beads and beading stitches it becomes wearable art. Go figure!
Thankfully, I reached the point where I stopped worrying. I just want to create, share and have fun! :)
YES! I love you carrie!
The whole art vs craft debate should be dead and buried in this day and age. There was a time when landscape artists were looked down upon by portrait artists and those working in stone looked down on by those working in bronze. I prefer to just call myself an artist, and I consider architects, musicians, chefs, writers, sculptors, jewellers and anyone else also working in any creative field to be a fellow artist. Pigeon holes are for curators and critics to make their job easier. Well, that's my tuppence worth anyway! Do what you enjoy and thanks for visiting my blog. : ) (A different Carrie!)
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