From the first time I took a needle to canvas, almost 17 years ago, I have read and heard many heated discussions on whether needlepoint is a craft or an art. And if it is an art, whether I am an artist or a designer? On top of that, I have always wondered why the needlepoint world confuses designers/artists with teachers of needlepoint technique?
I'll start with the last one, it's the easiest. Being a good teacher requires excellent knowledge of the subject matter. But it also requires an ability to capture attention and interest, an ability to take the complicated and break it down to the accessible. Do you need to get formal education in order to know a subject matter very well? Not necessarily, and when we think of teaching technique, of hand-work, years of experience or great motor skills are just as important. You can teach good practices that assist in the making of a good teacher, you can teach how to prepare a lesson, how much to try to cover in a given period, how to assess the progress of a class. But how to walk in to a classroom and within a few minutes to have all eyes on you, twinkling and showing great curiosity, you can't teach that.
Now, let's say you are a wonderful needlepoint teacher both knowledgeable and possessing the ability to transfer the knowledge, does that mean that you are also a great needlepoint designer? Or a great fiber artist? The answer is obviously: NO! Then why do we ask designers to teach and if they are indeed artists, why do we judge their technique, or in needlepoint terms... why do we look at the back of their canvas?
What about craft vs. art and is needlepoint one or the other. When I use the word craft, I use it with the highest regard, the very highest. To me, craft means not only what you create but also how well you create it. What degree of importance you put on the beauty of the "how" and not only the beauty of the what.
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| From the Philadelphia Museum of Art 2011 Craft Show |
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From Wikipedia: In English, to describe something as a craft is to describe it as lying somewhere between an art (which relies on talent) and a science (which relies on knowledge).
To me, that sounds very much like needlepoint.
I don't think I care about how to define what I do. I think I care to:
1. enjoy it
2. do it to the best of my ability
3. bring joy and excitement to the viewer and the stitcher.
Now, off to make dinner!
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Four days into the new year. I've been wanting to write, to say something spectacular, maybe a resolution? But what I really want is to continue being able to enjoy my family, create and share my ideas with you. Just more of the same. Things around us are in an upheaval, that's how it seems when you read the papers. The future? Nothing much, just stay the same, no worse, and I will be happy. So Happy New Year, my friends. Take good care of yourselves, fill the upcoming year with creativity, love and enjoyment. Orna
My family has changed this year, we have added a new generation, Nomi. Nina is growing up so fast, soon it will be 10 years since we first met her in Cambodia. Reid and I will be celebrating 19 years of marriage in 2012, WOW! I hope I remind myself each and everyday, to keep my life balanced, to take a moment and look up from the canvas or the computer. I know it sounds cheesy, but I want to remember to look up at the sky!
