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

Fri Feb 7 16:23:35 UTC 2014

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.
>>> ________________________________
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Artists-making-art mailing list
>>> Artists-making-art at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/artists-making-art_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> Artists-making-art:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/artists-making-art_nfbnet.org/llambert%40zoominternet.net
>>
>> ________________________________
>> _______________________________________________
>> Artists-making-art mailing list
>> Artists-making-art at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/artists-making-art_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Artists-making-art:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/artists-making-art_nfbnet.org/ann%40acunningham.com