vince pitelka on sun 18 nov 01
> I believe that rarely do you get both together (i.e. Craft person and
artist), but
> when you do WOW!
Sam -
Unfortunately, I think this only works if you maintain an elitist view of
what an artist is. As I see it, an artist is anyone who makes art of any
kind. It does not mean that the art is any good, and it does not mean that
they are a good artist.
A craftsperson is anyone who incoporates fine craftsmanship into their work.
An artist is anyone who strives for honest and original individual
expression in their work. There is another meaning of artist which is in
common use and which I think we must acknowledge. An artist can be someone
who follows an established tradition such as Sung Dynasty celadons or
Medieval manuscript illumination with a very high degree of integrity or
excellence.
So, any potter who does original work, or any potter who does excellent work
within an ongoing tradition is an artist. That makes it pretty simple.
Fortunately, there are thousands of potters out there who are very fine
artists.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
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