Do you ever doubt yourself – do you ask yourself these questions? I know I struggle if people call me an ‘artist’ – I don’t think of myself as an artist, I think of myself as a creative, a crafter, a blogger… but not anything so ‘lofty’ as an artist.
But perhaps I’m giving the term ‘artist’ airs and graces? What defines an artist as opposed to a designer/maker? Is the line that artists create for the sake of pure creation, without thought to money or a market?
I doubt that – some of the most famous artists in history worked on a commissioned basis for rich families or organisations.
What say you?
{By SortaCrunchy on Flickr via Apryl Lowe on Pinterest}
I like that a lot. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Definitely my favorite post of the day ! I find myself asking the same questions. Thanks for sharing !
thank you for sharing this! and by the way i love the new hair!
Yes – I think we all tend to be our own worst critics. Whether we call ourselves “crafters” or “bloggers” or “designers” – we all modify, recreate and manipulate materials, objects or words to create something new. Artists continuously strive to improve each piece, stretch our skills and make something “new.” Because art is what happens when you make something ordinary into something extraordinary.
For me, when you cease to push yourself and simply recreate identical objects over and over, then maybe you are not creating art at that point so much as you are just “manufacturing.”
And, I think, most of us would not get nearly as much pleasure in that!
To me there is a big difference between “art”and “craft”. I am not an artist, I am a crafter. Art to me is made simply to look at and be beautiful. Craft is made to be beautiful AND functional…it needs to be used everyday and be a part of life. Therefore I am not an artist as what I make is designed to be used. I don’t think it has anything to do with money made, as we all really want to do that :-).
I think that’s a great distinction to make, Rebekah!
I think that pretty much sums it up Jess – when things go even further into a sweatshop mentality trying to fill an order it certainly seems drained of art.
Oh and by the way, managed to pick up the latest issue of Bespoke at the Canberra Zine Fair (very convenient as I’d ben having trouble getting it over the web) – great work!
Glad you enjoyed *bespoke* Jo – thanks! 😀
Thanks Jess – just what I needed this morning! I’ve printed it off and plan to put it somewhere very visible to remind me when my ‘doubt’ voice starts.
Really well put. Thankyou so much for sharing!
Why do I feel the need to so often say “I’m really a painter…”? It’s actually not trying to be taken more seriously although I did have that struggle when I started crafting – it’s actually something to say when people do the really embarssement-causing thing of flattering the work if truth be told, which is a struggle for another day! I’m here to say though that the passion I feel about crafting can easily equal the passion I feel about painting, so I think that art/craft/whatever (cooking for heaven’s sake) it’s all a passionate, creative pursit.
Oh I doubt myself everyday. Recently I didn’t doubt a range of new products that I had been working on for months and I thought, “I got away with this one – perhaps I’m growing up” … and I felt that way right up until the day before it launched. Then I had a massive day of anxiety, spent the day on the phone with friends asking for their “honest opinion – don’t say it’s good if it’s not”. I think it’s part of the creative process to critique yourself to death, to overthink it, and to be so passionately in love with what you do that sometimes you can only see the flaws. I get terrified showing people the things that I am truly the proudest of, and if I’m not terrified then I obviously don’t care enough which means it’s probably not any good.
Oh, I can relate to that! I think we all can! 🙂
All. The. Time! Just telling people what I do make me self conscious. Which if you think about it, artist worrying about the label, is probably one of the only who do. A Banker isn’t going to worry if Banker is the right term lol. I pick apart everything I do bit by bit and am trying to stop going that. Its not good for me or my art 🙂
That’s a really good point, Kristy… I guess it’s that feeling that we won’t be ‘valued’ if we use artist as a label for ourselves.