Thursday 24 July 2008

Art or Craft?

Todays blog prompt: What artistic technique do you love but not use often? What artistic technique intimidates you? Maybe you’ll find an expert in that technique reads your blog and can comment with tips for you!

I've never thought of myself as artistic. I can't draw things which look like the things they are supposed to be and I was useless at art at school. I have however always enjoyed crafts. I've knitted, tatted, made cards, glass painted, tried lace making, used mosaic tiles, made a bit of jewellery and of course scrapped.
Somehow I feel there is a difference between art and craft, although I can't explain it. I create stuff using other stuff, but I don't think of it as being artistic. I suppose that I associate 'art' with brushes, paints, charcoal etc and I don't use these.
So what artistic technique intimidates me? Well, I suppose anything using any of those 'artistic' tools. I look at some of the fantastic distressed,altered and vintage stuff that is out in Blogland and it just seems to be a whole different ball game to my scrapbook pages which involve cutting papers, playing with ribbons, buttons and sparkly things and gluing things on other things. It look so grown up and difficult.
Now maybe I need to go away and think about my 'art' and have more confidence in what I do as being art. But I'm beginning to ramble, so I'm off to take a look in a dictionary to see how 'art' and 'craft' are defined.
Oh my, Shimelle, you've really got me thinking about this one!!

2 comments:

Rhona said...

I'm with you on the art stuff. I don't do drawing, painting etc. I've also always liked to make things and have tried patchwork and quilting, knitting, crocheting, jewellery making and taught card making and scrapbooking for a short while. Just don't ask me to draw anything!!

Anonymous said...

I can picture the difference in my head between art & crafty lol but to define it is hard! Good food for thought!

I too am a jane of all crafts - but feel a master at none. :)