The Art of Craft introduces readers to a variety of crafts, from ancient practices to modern techniques, including papier-mâché, mosaic and miniatures. Collectors will find tips to help them make wise investments and learn about the artisanal communities in which they are most interested. THE ART OF CRAFT also includes inspiration for designing and organizing your own studio, suggests crafts most appropriate for young children, and shows how spending time creating and enjoying art can be both therapeutic and altruistic. In today’s busy world, finding a crafting genre that brings you joy may just be the most fun you’ve ever had!
THE ART OF CRAFT
What Is Craft? • According to Jaimianne Jacobin, executive director for the Washington, DC–based nonprofit James Renwick Alliance for Craft (JRA), an organization devoted to the appreciation of craft, the field of fine-art craft has been traditionally defined as creative, handmade work using the mediums of fiber, wood, glass, ceramic and metal, although contemporary definitions have evolved to stretch the definition even further.
Art vs. Craft • What is the difference between craft and art? The answer is not black and white, but instead a painterly palette of grays.
Why Craft? • We were born to create. In fact, we need to. A fascinating and growing body of research supports the idea that practicing a craft and creating art are good for both brain function and strong mental health. Of course, any crafter could have told you that—but validation is sweet.
STUDIO STYLE • There is a reason we find it fascinating to tour the studio spaces of artists. Filled with the furnishings and trappings of a creative workspace, studios embody the process, serve as silent witnesses to the act of making and inform the work being done within their walls with a sense of time and place. Standing in rooms where artists Frida Kahlo once painted her vivid self-portraits or Alexander Calder created his wire mobiles, it’s easy to believe that some of their brilliance rubbed off onto the walls or seeped into the floorboards and now remains, hanging in the air like a sort of inspiration oxygen. Breathing it all in, we feel closer to the artist and glimpse insight into the creative process.
Operation Organization • Making things gets messy.
SAFETY 101
Pressing Petals • Oshibana, the Japanese art of pressed flowers to create art, was practiced by samurai warriors to instill lessons of patience, concentration and living in harmony with nature. In Egypt, archaeologists discovered pressed bay leaves and pressed garlands in the 3,000-year-old tomb of King Tutankhamen’s mother, and in the Victorian age, budding botanists dried flowers as catalog specimens, while artists, crafters and lovers used pressed flowers to create elaborate artwork and send secret messages of the heart.
Art Journaling • Sometimes, pictures really are worth a thousand words—which is where art journals and scrapbooks come in. Intensely personal, visual diaries provide an outlet for practicing creativity, experimenting with artistic mediums, exploring techniques, alleviating stress, documenting adventures, keeping daily logs of thoughts and feelings, manifesting dreams and more.
Mastering Mosaic • Mosaic—bits and pieces of color, shape and texture set closely together to form patterns, pictures and designs—is a richly luxurious form of craft that is arguably one of the best examples of art imitating life we can imagine. Each individual tile, stone, scrap and shard represents a uniquely beautiful moment that, when placed in concert with others, represents something bigger—a story, image or, metaphorically speaking, a lifetime.
The Art of Collecting • Collectors are the frequent fliers of craft fairs, festivals, gallery exhibits, online stores and solo shows, and an important part of the...
