{"id":3939,"date":"2013-09-04T12:47:18","date_gmt":"2013-09-04T16:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allandouglas.com\/blog\/?p=3939"},"modified":"2025-04-21T01:56:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T05:56:40","slug":"artist-artisan-craftsman-clod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/artist-artisan-craftsman-clod\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist, Artisan, Craftsman, Clod"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a parting shot from the woodworking sector I’d like to share this (hopefully) humorous look at myself as an artist… or non-artist, you decide.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"artist,My wife and I were attending a \u201cserious\u201d art show in a ritzy section of St Louis when an older woman approached a young man who was decked out in woven leather sandals, lime green Capri style pants, a bright yellow shirt \u2013 too small and unbuttoned to the navel \u2013 and a pair of bright pink Ben Franklin style eye glasses.\u00a0 His hair style was pretty odd too.\u00a0 The woman beamed as she approached and gushed, \u201cOh! Are you an artist?\u201d<\/p>\n

The young man glared at her over his Ben Franklins, \u201cNo, Madam, \u201c he said with obvious disdain, \u201cI am an ar-TEEST<\/em><\/strong>!\u201d with a wave of his hand and toss of his ridiculous hair on the second syllable.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d sighed the grandmotherly one, obviously disappointed. \u201dI was hoping you were someone with talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll never know if this sweet old lady was actually the queen of come-backs or if she simply misunderstood and got lucky, but it is this encounter that comes to mind every time I meet a creative person who thinks more of themselves than they ought.<\/p>\n

Because I am a creative person myself, I tend to meet a lot of other artistic folks.\u00a0 Some call themselves artists, some prefer craftsman or artisan, some shy away from a label of any kind.\u00a0 Most are wonderful, kind people.\u00a0 A few are a little odd.\u00a0 One is, well, he\u2019s just weird.<\/p>\n

I recently found myself wondering what it is that makes one person an artist, and another something different.\u00a0 Is there some criteria by which all creative persons are judged to see if they\u2019re worthy of the coveted label of \u201cArtist\u201d?<\/p>\n

Walt Akers, fellow woodworker\/writer (and self professed artist) states that there are six steps to becoming a successful artist.<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Work in a studio
\n2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Look different
\n3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Smell different
\n4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Think different
\n5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Act different
\n6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have an entourage<\/p>\n

Briefly, Walt surmises that \u201dserious\u201d artists look, smell, think and act differently from normal people because they have to.\u00a0 How can they possibly come up with their artwork if they are just like everyone else?\u00a0 Answer, they can\u2019t \u2013 they\u2019re nuts, they have to be in order to think up the bizarre looking things they produce.<\/p>\n

I must concede that most artistic types are a little different from non-artistic people.\u00a0 They have more vision, imagination, an ability to conceive an image in their minds, and talents to replicate it in real life.\u00a0 And it does seem that the more acclaimed an artist is, the odder they behave.\u00a0 Although it is unclear whether they were always that odd and their art is the result, or if they became increasingly odd as their acclaim mounted, perhaps because they felt is was expected of a \u201cSerious\u201d artist.<\/p>\n

I do take issue with point number 3.\u00a0 Virtually every artistic person I know bathes regularly.\u00a0 Some of us may be a bit ripe at the end of a long day, but it is dealt with promptly.\u00a0 We do not strut our odiferousness around in public as a badge of honor.\u00a0 I suppose in order to find artists that are so \u201cserious\u201d that they cultivate offensive odors to prove their artistic integrity you would have to go to New York or Paris.<\/p>\n

What about a \u201cstudio\u201d?\u00a0 It does seem that everyone who refers to themselves as an artist, not an artisan or craftsman, works in a studio.\u00a0 What IS a studio?<\/p>\n

The dictionary defines it as a place where an artist works.\u00a0 Well, OK.\u00a0 If that artist is a painter or sculptor, it seems natural enough. \u00a0But what of those who work in mediums that are normally associated with a trade.\u00a0 Wood for example.\u00a0 I\u2019ve run across many artists who work in wood.\u00a0 A couple were sculptors but more were wood turners and even furniture makers who insisted that their workspace was a studio.\u00a0 As though the word \u2018shop\u2019 is just too vulgar for them.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the difference between a woodworking shop and a woodworking studio?\u00a0 When I think of a studio, I envision some loft apartment in Greenwich Village with a whole wall devoted to windows allowing cascades of sunlight in to work by.\u00a0 But the \u201cstudios\u201d I\u2019ve seen were ordinary, basic buildings containing a table saw, band saw, turning lathe, router table and a rack of lumber.\u00a0 Just like mine.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s the amount of rent you must pay.\u00a0 If you pay more than you can afford you call it a studio and hope to become a famous artist, if not it\u2019s a workshop.\u00a0 No, more likely it\u2019s simply that those who want to be called an artist call their workspace a studio because of the association there \u2013 even if it really is just a workshop after all.<\/p>\n

So if I work in a workshop<\/a>, then I suppose I can\u2019t be an artist, according to Walt.\u00a0 And that\u2019s OK.\u00a0 I build custom hardwood furniture.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never considered my work to be \u201cart\u201d, although there is an artistic element to it: symmetry, form, quality construction.\u00a0 My chairs don\u2019t look like they would run away from you if you tried to sit on them.\u00a0 My tables are not twisted into nightmarish forms.\u00a0 It\u2019s real furniture for real people.\u00a0 Several years ago my wife, Marie, coined the phrase \u201cFunctional Art\u201d for use in our work.\u00a0 I think it fits nicely.<\/p>\n

I do agree wholeheartedly that an entourage is absolutely required to be an artist.\u00a0 An entourage, simply put, is a following, a fan club, a group of devotees, people who are willing to throw their money at you in exchange for your work.\u00a0 I call them \u201ccustomers\u201d.\u00a0 Without these people, we are nothing.\u00a0 No matter how highly we might think of ourselves or our work, if no one else shares that opinion, we starve.\u00a0 An entourage is essential.<\/p>\n

The area I live in is just busting with artistically talented people.\u00a0 A bunch of us got together a few years ago and opened a small gallery called Treasures Of Appalachia.\u00a0 So those of us who don\u2019t work in a studio can at least say we have our work in a gallery.\u00a0 Some call themselves artists, and fully deserve the title.\u00a0 Some call themselves crafters but deserve to be known as artists.\u00a0 And there a couple who claim to be artists, but, well, they have no \u201cstudio\u201d, so they can\u2019t be real artists can they?<\/p>\n

Regardless of what they may be called, they are talented people.\u00a0 It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.\u00a0 I suppose art is the same.\u00a0 I came across a nice short explanation of this whole topic on the Internet:<\/p>\n

“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
\nHe who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
\nHe who works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist.” \u2015 Francis of Assisi<\/a><\/p>\n

I rather like that.\u00a0 Although I would add one more line:<\/p>\n

He who works with his hands, head, heart and a liberal dose of psychosis is an arteest.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a parting shot from the woodworking sector I’d like to share this (hopefully) humorous look at myself as an artist… or non-artist, you decide. My wife and I were attending a “serious” art show in a ritzy section of St Louis when an older woman approached a young man who was decked out in … Continue reading “Artist, Artisan, Craftsman, Clod”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3939"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21369,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3939\/revisions\/21369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}