I read about this book over at Craftypod, and it keeps coming to mind. It looks like it may be largely introductory, but it also looks like it will fire the imagination toward new ideas, toward breaking out of the track I'm on.
Because I'm equally drawn toward fine art and crafting, I often think about what the differences are. What draws one person to fine art and another to crafting something to wear or use? In what ways do the two proclivities vary? And why, in this blogosphere, does there appear such a divide between the two camps? Is there elitism at work? Is there a tendency for the artists from one camp to 'not get' the sensibilities of the other camp? To me, they both serve a purpose, if one believes in 'a purpose', for self-expression and self-examination. Not to put too great an onus on them, but an exercise in each provides a particular therapy for me, a mode of getting out of my head and realizing something tangible. They each bring out different qualities for me. Fine art realizes an appreciation for beauty and new perspective through imagery. Crafting a functional item realizes the appreciation for breaking from a mechanized paradigm and being more self-sufficient--whether by making one's own bag, one's own dish, a gift for someone which cannot be found in a store.
Bangles by Jennifer Perkins
Bangles by Jennifer PerkinsOther qualities inherent in each focus are things such as accessibility - often functional items draw more ready identification from others, or limitation - fine art can be hung, bound, decorative and contained, whereas there is only so much space available to house a dozen sweaters, a dozen bags, a dozen lamps.
Hula Girl by April WinchellBeyond all of that, do you think fine artists and crafters have a certain, subconscious exclusivity at work? Do crafters sometimes secretly feel that collagists or watercolorists are doing the same things over and over? Do fine artists secretly believe that crafters, in making things of perceived obsolescence, do not possess the 'true artist' soul?
Canvas by Kelsey O'Mullane
These are just some thoughts that run through my mind sometimes as I move from craft to canvas, and I notice that a lot of the blogs I visit and enjoy carry blogrolls which are largely exclusive of both camps. I wonder why that is. Is it inadvertent, or is it a natural extension of not looking beyond one's own creative practice?
Anyway, thanks for reading all my blather. I'm coming off an evening of Halloween party banner-making, and am on my way to blog-giveaway canvas-painting. So I'm of two minds right now.
Next up: Chris finds one of her minds in a beaker solution at the lab.
18 comments:
I woldn't call anything I make "fine"..LOL But I go both ways depending on whatever I ened to get done.
I once wandered into a little plaster-statue store, and was enchanted by some of the beautifully painted plaster masks hanging on the wall. "How did they DO that?" I asked, and was told that they were painted with acrylic paints, and the subtle shadings were done with chalk pastels applied with a small stiff brush, then the whole thing glazed with a protective coat of acrylic spray. Of course I instantly saw the possibilities of this, and thereafter regaled dear friends with their very own little statues of classical nudes, painstakingly painted in lifelike flesh tones. The Botticelli Venus and the naked wrestlers were greeted with especially gratifying horror. So, I like to think that the thin line between Craft and Fine Art runs right through me (as do so many thin lines, which we ARE NOT GOING TO ENUMERATE HERE so don't even think of it).
Thank you, Steve!
This is...
sort of
the kind of dialogue that I was looking for!
i have been a crafter all my life ... my blog though is about my art ... i don't know how fine it is, but it is art not craft ....
i do get both sides .... i guess i am both sides .... i think some fine artists have disdain for crafters, but don't think it goes the other way .....
Thanks for featuring my "consequences" piece Chris, though it is a 4"x4" canvas, not a card - but who cares!!!
I think a lot of people who do not art or craft, consider all things that are done by people who's name is not Da Vinci or Botticelli or similar, to be "craft" rather than art.
I call myself an artist with a small "a". Anything that is created with thought, need, love & soul as far as I'm concerned is art....art from the heart to coin a phrase.
Besides I'm a gemini so I can swing both ways, art AND craft!!! lol
I think the line between fine art and craft is blurring a bit nowadays. I remember there was a definite divide between art, craft and commercial art. Now it seems that crafters have figured out how to market themselves to a wider audience and fine artists are incorporating crafts into their own mediums. I think the medium of blogging and online stores such as etsy or trunkt have helped to bring both sides together.
i think about this sometimes. i often say "i'm no artist" "i can't draw or paint". in some ways i have a love hate relationship with them both, fine art and craft. i want to create beautiful images, well done and expertly crafted. it is in perfectionism that i lose my way. all my life i have gone back and forth from art to craft to art to craft. it comes down to the same thing each times. i must master the skills and then release myself from my own expectations. great post! it's good for me to think about these things and remeber my own traps.
Art is the idea, Craft is the realization of it. Good art with poor craft can be clever but usually doesn't succeed in conveying its message. Bad art with good craft can produce horrible (but well-made!) tchotchkes. They need each other. Car/gas, pizza/cheese, yin/yang. Portent up the yinyang.
Thought provoking post Chris. There are times when I see the two worlds blending more and more. Yet at the same time, I often notice the divide you mention. Interesting topic to ponder.
I would leave a comment, but that STEVE guy has me intrigued...
Me, too, Grrl!
I think he may be one of those stalker fellas!!
It would take a far hardier person than I to stalk Chris. Can you imagine? Up at dawn to go to the Arboretum, then a few crafts classes, then thrift shops for raw materials, and out with the dog for a walk, and oh, yeah, she works too, somewhere in there. AND she has a social life. I'm exhausted just at the thought of it.
It's all I can do to stalk my lunch, and that just more or less waits for me at the nearest Subway. It doesn't even try to hide. Thank heaven that lunch isn't coy.
Great topic, great post (well written) and great comments!
c
Good discussion you have going here....it's something I used to think about more years ago than I do now. Now I can find beauty, inspiration, admiration is sooooo many different media, thanks to this blog thing.
great post!
hey who give a whatever about the difference between craft and fine art. You've got a picture of my oak tree on your header!!!!!
Anonymous K
I agree, Stephanie. The internet and specifically, blogland, has allowed us to commune and have exposure to artists working in so many different media and with different focus, and at the same time grow in understanding about work we don't do ourselves! Not to mention... the charity and service venues. All good...
Well said!
For me they are just different tools I use to express myself. I don't do exclusivity or rules very well. The diversity helps me, and the abilities I use for each one are coming from the same location (within me), so they both are valid, welcomed, cherished and pursued.
Food for thought, Chris. Interesting comments, too. Being a dilettante, I flit from interest to interest. I've never thought of myself as an artist or crafter. More a patron of the arts--even though my most consistent medium has been poetry.
Looking forward to Dia de Bloglandia!
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