Art or Craft? I have often wondered how to classify the things I make. Are they crafts? Are they art?

I have no problem recognizing the works that my husband and son create as Art! They are each talented artists. However, in my mind, the things I create I consider crafts. Yes I use different color combinations and techniques, and much of what I make is one of a kind or limited editions, BUT that doesn’t mean it’s “art”. After all they are not a painting or a soft sculpture!

Then I ran across this article which I recognized as the writing style of an on-line friend. I contacted Sandi for permission to include her article here;

“In the 1850s, if you  needed a new shirt, you made it; if a stirrup on a saddle broke, you crafted a new one; to celebrate a wedding, ladies would gather, bringing all of their scraps to create a quilt for the newly-married couple.  Socks and scarves were knit or crocheted by firelight; knives and farm implements were hand-shaped from cast iron.  The term “artist” was applied to those involved in traditional art forms – painting, sculpture, the theater.

Many of the skills needed to maintain a homestead in the 1850s are considered art forms today.  Beginning in 2014, Frontier Homestead will endeavor to bring artists working in these various fields together, to present living exhibits of the historical past.”

After reading this, I am beginning to change my viewpoint. Maybe my husband is right and I can be considered an artist too?

What hobbies or crafts or arts do you pursue? In what category do you consider the items that you make? Everyone has a talent, I wonder what is yours?

And as Christmas is fast approaching, I want to wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!