Thursday, August 23, 2012

Craft or Art? Pssht, just call it the Love of Making!

Thursday Think Tank
As someone who studied art at an artsy fartsy college it always irked me when a distinction was drawn between fine art and craft.  For those of you blissfully ignorant to these matters there is a hierarchy when it comes to the Art world...suffice it to say the Painting Studios were on the top floors of my college's art building while the Ceramics, Fibers, and Graphic Design studios were at the bottom.  Roll eyes.  Us basement dwellers often remarked on the perks given to the painters but gladly went on doing what made us happy.  With a background in Ceramics and Fibers I have always preferred creating beautiful and functional objects for the everyday.  Many would categorize that as "craft" not "art."   Well no matter what you call it that has always been my modus operandi when it comes to creating.  The pieces of art I created to hang on the wall for decoration are far and few between...and in most cases are found in a portfolio in my parent's basement!  Ha!

My best friend forwarded me this article from the New Yorker about Craft Wars and I found it really fascinating.  It brought me back to my college days when I hung out with people who discussed this topic regularly.  I thought I'd share it with you...

What do you think?  Is there a distinction in the quilting world between Art Quilts and Functional Quilts?  Are quilters that snobby about categorizing quilts?

As for the Arts and Crafts Movement I do agree with William Morris and have been taking steps over the last few years to downsize and purge all the unnecessary items in my life.


“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” 
- William Morris

Well, let me know if you check out some of the blogs mentioned in that article...I know I'm going to...

Thursday Think Tank

What is going on in Your Think Tank this week?  It is  your turn to link up. Here are the rules:


  1. Link up any post from the past week that features some creative thinking going on in your creative world.   It can be anything, quilting, home improvement, fashion, crafting, DIY gifts, cooking...whatever you have recently thought "hmmm, you know what I should create" is perfectly appropriate for the Think Tank.  TTT is all about whatever you are currently brainstorming and would like feedback or encouragement on!
  2. Somewhere in your post, link back here to my blog. (Or grab the T.T.T. button for your sidebar.)
  3. Comment on at least a few of the other links—because what fun is a linky party without comments?
- rebecca lynne


4 comments:

Snoodles said...

Great article....very thought provoking. I liked this line, "they are hand-making things for their souls." Yep, that puts it pretty well! :)

Lucy | Charm About You said...

This is such an interesting article! Love that quote too. I kind of enjoy craft wars and I agree with the comment that said 'the joy is in the doing'. People should be less judgmental about what is art or craft and just appreciate we all have different tastes. The most important part is that people create and make to their hearts content :) I can admire the beautiful art quilts people make, yet the ones I make are purely for snuggling! One is not better than the other!

Krista Stitched said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Krista Schneider said...

Interesting article. I struggle with this concept of form vs. function. Art vs. craft. I agree with your sentiments, and love that quote by Morris. The catch-22 being that something beautiful and time-consuming and expensive is SO hard to "use." Isn't it? I have these vintage blue crystal glasses that I LOVE but it's so hard for me to use them. The thought of them breaking breaks my heart. But I use them. All the time. Even though it's hard, because if I didn't, what's the point? I'm can't speak for experienced quilters, but as one with only 1.5 years under my belt I find it hard to look at a quilt and only see "form" or "function." To me, they all have both.