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Will, I am very sorry, but I disagree with you on a couple of points.

Art and Craft shows strive to higher art just as bonsai shows do. Do you not think that is the case? People who make furniture take beautiful, balanced pictures of it. People who do inlay work, or make tools, or ceramics in general, all consider the balance and inherent qualities of what they are trying to display. Because there is a support system of lovely accessories to bonsai does not make bonsai art. Nor would the lack make bonsai craft. Artistic display and beautiful pictures do not make art. There are stunning coffee table books with pictures of most "crafts", more and more these books are available. Quilts, gems and minerals, animal portraits, all have fabulous books on displays, showing, and photographing. All have wonderful magazines and delighted followers. Go to a big duck decoy convention and tell them that what they do is "craft". They will either laugh at you or get mighty angry. What they do is the same mix....craft is the working knowledge, understanding, and ability to manipulate the raw material.....art is the heart-stopping result in the hands of a few. Then wander around any of their conventions and see how often the self-proclaimed "artists" are really rather ordinary. It isn't how much you trumpet your art, it's how your art strikes others. As I have said before, and I will always say, I would rather have something from the hands of a good craftsman than an incompetent artist. But to me, "craft" is not a derogatory term, nor is it a child of a lesser God. If someone came up and commented favorably on the craftsmanship of something I did, it would be the highest compliment. Perhaps different people have had different exposure to the words, and have given them layers of meaning that are not necessarily the same. And without craft, there would be no bonsai. Sorry. Craft is the ability to work with, understand, and manipulate the raw materials. Craft is what allowed Michaelangelo to carve the stone, but his own soul is what gave his carvings life. He could not have done what he did without learning his craft first. How do you perceive craft??

(This is a friendly and pleasant discussion, please don't think that I am being difficult or angry here, it is just a different point of view.)

Joanie, hoping she didn't really step in it this time.

27-Jun-2005	#36
Joanie Enthusiast *MODERATOR GROUP* Join Date: Feb-2005 Location: Carlsbad, California..coastal desert Country: United States USDA Zone: 11 AHS Heat Zone: 2 Posts: 5,554	Will, I am very sorry, but I disagree with you on a couple of points. Art and Craft shows strive to higher art just as bonsai shows do. Do you not think that is the case? People who make furniture take beautiful, balanced pictures of it. People who do inlay work, or make tools, or ceramics in general, all consider the balance and inherent qualities of what they are trying to display. Because there is a support system of lovely accessories to bonsai does not make bonsai art. Nor would the lack make bonsai craft. Artistic display and beautiful pictures do not make art. There are stunning coffee table books with pictures of most "crafts", more and more these books are available. Quilts, gems and minerals, animal portraits, all have fabulous books on displays, showing, and photographing. All have wonderful magazines and delighted followers. Go to a big duck decoy convention and tell them that what they do is "craft". They will either laugh at you or get mighty angry. What they do is the same mix....craft is the working knowledge, understanding, and ability to manipulate the raw material.....art is the heart-stopping result in the hands of a few. Then wander around any of their conventions and see how often the self-proclaimed "artists" are really rather ordinary. It isn't how much you trumpet your art, it's how your art strikes others. As I have said before, and I will always say, I would rather have something from the hands of a good craftsman than an incompetent artist. But to me, "craft" is not a derogatory term, nor is it a child of a lesser God. If someone came up and commented favorably on the craftsmanship of something I did, it would be the highest compliment. Perhaps different people have had different exposure to the words, and have given them layers of meaning that are not necessarily the same. And without craft, there would be no bonsai. Sorry. Craft is the ability to work with, understand, and manipulate the raw materials. Craft is what allowed Michaelangelo to carve the stone, but his own soul is what gave his carvings life. He could not have done what he did without learning his craft first. How do you perceive craft?? (This is a friendly and pleasant discussion, please don't think that I am being difficult or angry here, it is just a different point of view.) Joanie, hoping she didn't really step in it this time.