Introduction

Many have asked, "what are arts and crafts and what is the difference between the two"

In its most simple sense, arts and crafts is a broad term given to a wide variety wares or goods , created by hand for pleasure, profit, and often both.

We can break it down further:

Art could be considered the creative process where an original idea or design is conceived and the craft is where it is created.

Art has been around for eons as proven by cave paintings. Man seems to be compelled to express him (or her) self in ways which covey certain feelings or theme. Craft was developed when people need to improve methods and skills necessary to produce more goods while retaining the feel of an original work.

Usually we think of arts and crafts as unique items created one at a time by hand.

The modern arts and crafts movement really started in the early 19th century, when artisans created goods for trade. Usually form followed function, that is to say the ware filled the need first. The design was determined more by how it was to be used than how people would view the ware in respect to aesthetics.

Along the way artists began to incorporate art into the designs. They discovered the buying public was willing to buy more and varied products that were hand made if they were nice to look at. In some cases this has gone to the extreme where items that used to be utilitarian are now created "just for looks". For example think about the last time you saw anyone making pickles in a crock, but pass enough potters booths and you are sure to see crocks and bowls which were never intended to hold anything other than someone's attention.

As time passed people began to find they had disposable income and they could afford to pay others to provide these useful items and we almost forgot how to carve a spoon or spin thread. These mundane tasks were left it to the few who were satisfied to eke out a living making useful but inexpensive goods. But there was one thing that our money could not buy and that was the serenity and self satisfaction that comes from working with our hands.

And so we came full circle from creating arts and crafts to fill one need to creating arts and crafts to fill another.


Do we choose the craft of does the craft choose us?

At first we assumed that readers would have a particular art of craft in mind but we quickly realized that is not always the case. People "do" arts and crafts for a number of reasons. Social, personal, monetary, it doesn't matter which.

Why do we work in a particulate medium? Some people may have the strength and endurance to carve stone or to forge iron. Others may possess the supple hands and feeling that allows them to turn a perfect clay pot.

It may be true that not everyone has the vision and perception to create tasteful designs, almost anyone can develop the skills to create beautiful and useful wares. If you don't believe this then take the end from a tin can, dull the sharp edge with a piece of sand paper and use a nail and hammer to make small holes in the shape of a star. Attach a loop of wire on the top and its an ornament. Do it over and over and suddenly you realize how you can vary the weigh of the hammer blows to make all the holes equally deep.

The point is most people can easily learn the basics. Developing and honing the skills to produce better results takes time and practice. Our hands and muscles learn tasks the same way we learned the ABC's. By repetition.

While working at an arts and crafts center on a military base I would instruct patrons on photography, jewelry and lapidary, ceramic and clay, wood working and turning, stained glass, pen and ink drawing, leather craft and this was before lunch. The point is most of the basics are learn-able. The perfection of the methods and designs can take time and practice. And failure but that's OK too because we learn from our mistakes and sometimes mistakes can be good.

There is the story of the Chinese potter who was tasked with creating a new type of pottery and after much trial and error gave up and threw himself into the kiln, thus creating bone china pottery.


Copy or not to copy.

In spite of the axiom that states that imitation is the highest form of flattery, many artists and crafters think of it as no less than theft.

One day, we were sitting in the office of our sign shop, waiting for the phone to ring. Business was slow and our attention was drawn across the way to the building where a UPS truck was picking up yet another load of birdhouses. Every day a UPS truck was picking up birdhouses. We thought, why not make some birdhouses. But not wanting to copy the work of others we decided upon clay, as we had a kiln and some experience with the medium. This was before the internet popularly and so with out looking at other designs we developed a line of feeders with a pointed "china-hat" top. No small task as we had to learn to make slip casting molds.

Imagine out surprise when we discovered a design, very similar to ours in a wild bird store.

So we took an idea, after all birdhouses are hardly an original idea, and gave them our own twist just to find out someone else was thinking along the same lines.

This shows that 2 people can come up with similar ideas or solutions to the same problem. Don't feel like others are copying you just because they have similar designs.

That said we feel it is real important, if you want to do well, or stand out in the crowd, try hard to make your wares your own. An added bonus is that will never feel guilty about stealing a design. If you see a design you like, use it but improve it. See how you can make it more beautiful or more useful. Try to be a little creative.

It is true that some people have no qualms about stealing a design, pattern or method.

A fellow, who had already followed us into the greenhouse business because he thought we were doing so well, asked if we would mind showing him our studio, our wares and how we made them. Yes we would mind and we politely declined. Copying our finished products is one thing but expecting us to hand over 30 years of proprietary information is something else.

There are other considerations when choosing a craft, such as studio size. For example pottery usually requires room for clay, a wheel, a kiln and finished wares. It may not be the best choice for a city apartment dweller. A better choice might be calligraphy or something that does not take up so much space. We will be going into the studio topic in more detail later.