"There is no differentiation between art and life."
I watched Craft In America last night. Just the first episode. I'm gonna catch the other two tonight (yeah, for encore showings!) The above quote was said by Tom Joyce, a blacksmith who lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It resonates with me. . . I do believe that everyone's finest piece of art is their life. . . at least it can be.
I was really struck by just how happy the people featured in the episode seemed. Especially this guy, Garry Knox Bennett, a furniture designer residing in the lovely bay area. But he first was drawn into the world of craft when he started making roach clips back in the late sixties and sold them at good 'ol Haight and Ashbury in the city. This man still resonates "hippie." (So do I, so it's not an insult as so many would have it be these days =) Once he made this shelf, and it was elaborate and fancy and "too precious". These are roughly his own words, I'm paraphrasing. And he just couldn't stand how "precious" it was starting to become, so he drove a large nail into one of the doors on it. Just SMACK in the middle. A huge eye-sore, as some would have it. . . But, ahhh, art.
Then, today, while making more earrings in preparation for the South Bay Soiree, I listened to Cover to Cover with Richard Molinsky on KPFA. He interviewed the author Steven Bach who recently wrote the book, Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl . Leni was a film maker and artist who worked for Hitler. . . Some may dispute this, ultimately I know little about the woman. But one point that Bach made was "you can't separate art from politics." And I started thinking, "yes! That is so true." Everything I make, whether someone wants to call it art or not, is infused by my beliefs, my politics. Why do you think I'm trying to make a living off of my own hard work? 'Cause it's easy? Umm, let me think about that one, um, no! Because I think our society has gotten derailed from the things in life that matter. I don't want to work for a huge corporation that supports slave wages in another country. I want to work at home where I'm close to those I care about. . . And there is an inherent value in making one's own things, I don't care if you're talking about a necklace, a pair of gloves, or a garden hoe. All equally valuable.
So everywhere I go there's people espousing about how art is everywhere. And so it is. I see this. I'm glad to know that others do too.
(Oh, and coming soon! A sneak peak of some of my newest work! )
I watched Craft In America last night. Just the first episode. I'm gonna catch the other two tonight (yeah, for encore showings!) The above quote was said by Tom Joyce, a blacksmith who lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It resonates with me. . . I do believe that everyone's finest piece of art is their life. . . at least it can be.
I was really struck by just how happy the people featured in the episode seemed. Especially this guy, Garry Knox Bennett, a furniture designer residing in the lovely bay area. But he first was drawn into the world of craft when he started making roach clips back in the late sixties and sold them at good 'ol Haight and Ashbury in the city. This man still resonates "hippie." (So do I, so it's not an insult as so many would have it be these days =) Once he made this shelf, and it was elaborate and fancy and "too precious". These are roughly his own words, I'm paraphrasing. And he just couldn't stand how "precious" it was starting to become, so he drove a large nail into one of the doors on it. Just SMACK in the middle. A huge eye-sore, as some would have it. . . But, ahhh, art.
Then, today, while making more earrings in preparation for the South Bay Soiree, I listened to Cover to Cover with Richard Molinsky on KPFA. He interviewed the author Steven Bach who recently wrote the book, Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl . Leni was a film maker and artist who worked for Hitler. . . Some may dispute this, ultimately I know little about the woman. But one point that Bach made was "you can't separate art from politics." And I started thinking, "yes! That is so true." Everything I make, whether someone wants to call it art or not, is infused by my beliefs, my politics. Why do you think I'm trying to make a living off of my own hard work? 'Cause it's easy? Umm, let me think about that one, um, no! Because I think our society has gotten derailed from the things in life that matter. I don't want to work for a huge corporation that supports slave wages in another country. I want to work at home where I'm close to those I care about. . . And there is an inherent value in making one's own things, I don't care if you're talking about a necklace, a pair of gloves, or a garden hoe. All equally valuable.
So everywhere I go there's people espousing about how art is everywhere. And so it is. I see this. I'm glad to know that others do too.
(Oh, and coming soon! A sneak peak of some of my newest work! )