Recently, I discovered a funny thing about my personal creativity over the past year that I never would have expected. It’s kind of awesome – which is equally unexpected.
When I was in college working on my degree in Fine Arts, I had a special appreciation for my friends who were in the Craft department. You know, the fiber artists, ceramicists, jewelers, wood workers, etc. The skill it took to make what they were making was mind boggling. While I admired the Craft department’s work, I also made sure to differentiate what they did (artisanal arts) with what I was doing (the FINE arts). Thinking about it now, this is actually kind of odd because I decided to pursue Printmaking, an art form that I would say has deep artisanal roots and it’s often paired with book-arts. The difference between the Fine Arts and Artisanal Arts/Crafting in my head was that the Fine Arts hefts emotional and conceptual weight to visually communicate with the soul of another human being. Meanwhile, Artisanal Arts were aesthetic goods that were for function or décor. Honestly, I still think that’s at least partially true, but the notion I once held was that the Fine Arts were somehow a better pursuit than Artisanal Arts – a notion that my spidey-sense has picked up on from other fine artists and galleries.
As I’m writing this, the more absurd the notion seems, and hopefully it seems just as ridiculous to everyone else reading this. But also as I’m writing this it seems apparent that this really comes down to Enlightenment (and certainly before and after that) mentality: that intellectual pursuits are somehow better than physical ones. Although not a definitive statement by any means, the Fine Arts seem to hang out in a high realm of intellect whereas Artisanal Arts spends time in the physical earthy world of “things.” At least this seems to be how the camps are perceived in a worst case scenario. And so with this idea buried in my brain, I’ve kind of always poo-poo’ed the idea of crafting with any kind of seriousness. To be clear, that’s for myself: I always wanted to make paintings and etchings and Fine Artsy things and be that kind of capital A Artist full-time, a lofty dream that for practical reasons doesn’t seem achievable until I’m old and retired.
On to a side story but it’s important to where I’m going with this, so hang with me.
Being a Creative type, with the absolute need to be making something, I’ve also been interested in other creative outlets besides the Fine Arts. Illustrating and cartooning were a focus when I was a little kid up through a good portion of college, and I still do that. To make some extra money, I flirted with making costume jewelry for two or three years, incorporating elements of illustration. I still have a bunch of supplies from that and still fiddle with it now and then, and turns out it’s a handy skill to have. I would sell the necklaces on Etsy and also in two boutiques in the city, so it was cool. But all of that wasn’t stuff I took seriously, and looked at it more like a hobby.
About this time last year, I was selling the necklaces (oh, and tile coasters with bird illustrations which I still make) at an adorable shop called Nice Things Hand Made. As you can probably guess, the shop features items that are handmade. Every month, the owner, Elissa, does a little second Saturday exhibition in the shop to feature a local artist or artist who sells items in the shop. In December, she puts on an ornament show. I wanted to participate, and decided I wanted to make little animal ornaments made out of felt. Where THAT even came from, I haven’t the slightest idea. I’ve never worked with felt before, I don’t own a sewing machine, and I only really know the basics when it comes to hand stitching. But I decided to give it a go, and next thing I know Elissa gave me the kind of look that is a window into the gears turning in her head. She asked if I can make the felt animals bigger, I said sure, and for the past year I’ve been making stuffed animals made out of felt for the shop, through Facebook, and on Etsy. Things aren’t crazy, but picking up.
I absolutely love making these stuffed animals. It’s very cathartic, and utilizes a very different creative process than the one I use for painting or printmaking. It’s like I’ve been meandering through different creative outlets outside of Fine Arts, and I accidentally stumbled into a sweet spot. Up until very recently, I was pretty shy and felt awkward telling people about what I’ve been up to when they ask what I’ve been making lately. I don’t recommend telling a gallery owner that you’re making stuffed animals when they ask this question, even if you have a pretty good relationship with them. You get this blank stare like you just said something a little crazy but they don’t want to offend you by reacting to it. Enter in the Fine Arts and Artisanal Arts divide that I discussed earlier.
Maybe it’s just awkward to me because more of my free time is spent sewing, and less of it has been spent working on paintings, but I don’t want to give the impression that I’ve “given up” on being a “fine artist.” I still love painting and printmaking because it meets a different kind of artistic need. The thing that comes as a complete surprise is that for the first time really ever that I desire something other than being a Fine Arts Artist full-time. Turns out I would really love to make stuffed animals as full-time work at some point, and continue painting/printmaking on the side.
Who knew? I’m slowly but surely getting to a point where I’m okay with this weird Fine Arts / Artisanal Arts dichotomy that exists within myself, too, possibly due to the stuffed animals (okay, maybe more craft than artisanal) and painting/printmaking pieces feed two very different creative outlets. I’ve discovered that several other artists are multi-disciplinary in this way, which helps a lot.
If you’re an artist, do you find that there are different creative outlets you pursue? What are they?
Have you experienced the same weird Fine Arts (which I think includes theater and dance and music, not just painting etc) and Artisanal Arts divide as I have?
Please share your thoughts!
P.S. For the curious, I sell my stuffed animals on Etsy at yivviepants.etsy.com.
