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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Hi Laurie, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>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. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Both work with the hands, and both love working
with the hands and most have done it all their life. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Both love the materials, and the handling of them,
and the satisfaction of the finished product that comes out of it. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>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! </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Laurie, the biggest difference between art and a
craft is where the person eventually takes the techniques, I think.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>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. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Lynda</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Lynda</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=free.spirit1@live.com href="mailto:free.spirit1@live.com">Laurie
Porter</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=Artists-making-art@nfbnet.org
href="mailto:Artists-making-art@nfbnet.org">Artists-making-art@nfbnet.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 06, 2014 7:26
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Artists-making-art] arts or
crafts new member</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'">
<DIV>Hi Folks:</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>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. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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. </DIV></DIV></DIV>
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