[Artists-making-art] arts or crafts new member

Fri Feb 7 16:47:54 UTC 2014

Yes, Jewell, the material does not matter - we can go any way we want to 
with it.  It is the ideas we work with that determine what will happen along 
the way, plus allowing the medium to lead us - finding that "life of it's 
own" that is there for us - a surprise or two along the way. Your project 
sounds wonderful.  Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jewel" <herekittykat2 at gmail.com>
To: "An exploration of art by and for blind persons" 
<artists-making-art at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2014 11:23 AM
Subject: Re: [Artists-making-art] arts or crafts new member


>I absolutely loved this explanation of arts versus crafts. I was also
> wondering the difference, so this really makes it clear to me. I do
> polymer clay. While I start with an expectation that it will be some
> sort of elephant or a horse or whatever, who knows what twists and
> turns will happen along the way. By the way, I'm currently working on
> a Harry Potter style house elf holding a tray that can hold business
> ccards. The house elf is done, but the tray still needs to be
> finished.
> Jewel
>
> On 2/7/14, Ann at acunningham.com <Ann at acunningham.com> wrote:
>> Lynda, Nice answer to craft and art. If someone who is reading this is 
>> still
>> torn I wouldn't be surprised though since there are all sorts of shades 
>> in
>> the continuum.
>>
>> I was talking to my daughter and a friend one day. I went off on a 
>> tangent
>> tangling all sorts of events together rather randomly. They started 
>> laughing
>> and saying something akin to how do you make it from day to day. And I 
>> said
>> you guys are pilots and for you to be a good pilot you know and follow
>> rules. That is what they pay you for. I am an artist and I am paid to 
>> break
>> the rules. No one wants to hear from me if it has already been done.
>>
>> What did you teach before you retired? Ann
>>
>> Ann Cunningham
>> Tactile Art - a creative way to see the world!
>> 303 238 4760
>> ann at acunningham.com
>> http://www.acunningham.com
>> http://www.sensationalbooks.com
>>
>>
>>> -------- Original Message --------
>>> Subject: Re: [Artists-making-art] arts or crafts new member
>>> From: "Lynda Lambert" <llambert at zoominternet.net>
>>> Date: Fri, February 07, 2014 6:03 am
>>> To: "An exploration of art by and for blind persons"
>>> <artists-making-art at nfbnet.org>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Laurie,
>>> So nice to see you here.  I did not start this group though, I am like
>>> you, I just came on to ask a question about something I needed to know 
>>> and
>>> was so glad to meet Ann who helped me with my question.  I am furiously
>>> working right now (oops, split that infinitive!) getting work done for 
>>> the
>>> opening of a two-person exhibition at a museum - the show is called
>>> _Vision and Revision:  Two artists with limited sight, not limited
>>> vision_  It is my pottery and mixed-media fiber works, and a legally 
>>> blind
>>> painter. It opens one month from today, and if I stop to think about 
>>> what
>>> else has to be done yet, I'll get nervous. So, I won't do that, but just
>>> will keep on working on the details. The show will appear at two 
>>> locations
>>> this year and will have a video that plays in the gallery with the art
>>> works, Braille labeling, and artist's talks. I will even be teaching in
>>> the gallery one afternoon, for the Women in the Arts course at Geneva
>>> College. That is where I taught when I was a professor of fine arts and
>>> humanities, before I retired. I'll be lecturing on the historical 
>>> context
>>> of my work and where the ideas have come from when creating it.
>>>
>>> To make matters even more difficult, I am scheduled to speak at a
>>> conference at Slippery Rock University of PA for two sessions, the day
>>> before we hang our show. So, I have those presentations to be working on
>>> every day now, too.  I officially retired from teaching 5 1/2 years ago,
>>> but I am still very much involved in everything but being in the
>>> classroom.
>>>
>>> Here is my response to the question you have asked. The gap between an
>>> artist and a crafter is like crossing the ocean, it is that wide. Some
>>> basic things may be similar between the two, but most things are very 
>>> far
>>> apart philisophically.
>>>
>>> Both work with the hands, and both love working with the hands and most
>>> have done it all their life.
>>> Both love the materials, and the handling of them, and the satisfaction 
>>> of
>>> the finished product that comes out of it.
>>>
>>> While the crafter will usually be satisfied with beginning something and
>>> knowing where the end will be, the artist begins with no notion of where
>>> the end will be or even if it will be.  the crafter has a clearly 
>>> defined
>>> path to the finished product. The artist has only some inklings of
>>> possible outcomes, but has to find them as she works.
>>>
>>> The other very big thing I see as a difference between them is that the
>>> crafter has 'rules" to follow and seldom will ever deviate from those
>>> rules, as they are set in stone in her mind. On the other hand, the 
>>> mature
>>> artist has learned that there are no rules at all.  They may begin in 
>>> the
>>> early stages by learning techniques, but eventually with the years of
>>> working, the light comes on in her brain when she discovers one day
>>> - she is free of all rules when making art. Everything can be 
>>> challenged,
>>> everything can be changed, and everything is fair game, for the artist. 
>>> Is
>>> there any other profession in this world where there are no rules? It's
>>> the most exhilerating feeling to know that there are absolutely no rules
>>> whatsoever for me. Wow, makes me take a deep breath just to say it. 
>>> Free,
>>> free, free, at last!
>>>
>>> Laurie, the biggest difference between art and a craft is where the 
>>> person
>>> eventually takes the techniques, I think.
>>>
>>> A crafter seldom takes things to a different level but is usually 
>>> content
>>> to learn something then duplicate it endlessly, then moves on to learn
>>> something else and does that again with it. The artist can take crafts
>>> materials (which is what you and I both do) and techniques, and then 
>>> take
>>> them far beyond because they will combine their techniques and materials
>>> with the imagination.  If you can teach it, it is usually a craft. If 
>>> you
>>> cannot teach it, it is normally art.  Art can begin by learning some
>>> techniques, or using craft materials, but then the person begins to ask
>>> the "what if" questions, and takes lots of risks, failures, and bends in
>>> the road on the way to it becoming a work of art. It is a "mind set" 
>>> that
>>> is never satisfied with just the learning of something new, but one that
>>> constantly questions, experiments, and never knows where the "end" will
>>> be, or even if it will be.  A "crafter" will never understand what I 
>>> have
>>> just said and will most likely be huffing and puffing and angry with it.
>>>  An "artist" is standing and applauding what I have said. It is that
>>> simple, and that complex.  The artist thrives on change and making new
>>> discoveries and each work leads to other querstions and more change and
>>> more new discoveries.
>>>
>>> One can see the difference when you look at work in types of
>>> environments.  One will be setting at a craft show with a table full of
>>> things that are basically all the same while the other will have work 
>>> on
>>> display in a gallery or museum.  Each has decided where they "fit" and
>>> each is very happy with where they are. They are different animals, with
>>> different ideas, and different end results and outcomes. Each one has
>>> decided their own path and each one is comfortable with the decision she
>>> has made.
>>>
>>> Lynda
>>>
>>> Lynda
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: Laurie Porter
>>>> To: Artists-making-art at nfbnet.org
>>>> Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 7:26 PM
>>>> Subject: [Artists-making-art] arts or crafts new member
>>>>
>>>> Hi Folks:
>>>>
>>>> I'd like to introduce myself. I'm a blind person from wisconsin who is 
>>>> a
>>>> fledgling and budding beginner artist. my medium is beadwork. I make
>>>> pictures and tapestries out of tiny little seed beads  sewn together 
>>>> with
>>>> thread. but most of my work is in making jewlry, but I have always 
>>>> looked
>>>> upon my beadwork as an art form.
>>>>
>>>> so, I have a basic question. What is the difference between an art and 
>>>> a
>>>> craft? I do believe that all crafts are forms of art  but are all arts
>>>> considered crafts? Thanks linda and all of you for getting this list
>>>> going as it is something I've always dreamed of seeing in our efforts 
>>>> to
>>>> bring blind people together who love to both create and appreciate the
>>>> visual arts.
>>>> ________________________________
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