Craft vs. Art and Our Adventures as Craft Artists!

Welcome Friends!
Week 5 of our study on Careers in art led us to the Craft Artist. For those interested only in their child's artwork, feel free to skip down to heading Our Adventures as Craft Artists. For those with some extra time or interest in my viewpoint on crafts, read on!



Cut and Paste Activities

 Craft vs. Art
I generally do not teach crafts, because they often float away from the ideas and elements of art. We have all seen the Sunday School cut and paste activities that have pre-designed pieces that are basically glued together. While there is nothing wrong with these types of crafts in certain situations, I try to stay away from these in art class. I prefer to teach students how to take the basic elements of art and create their own work out of their own ideas. The problem with the 'cut and paste activities" used as an art lesson is: it does not allow for individual creativity! The whole point of art class is for students to learn skills that will help them come up with a design that is unique to them! Gluing together a print-out of a pilgrim is not exactly unique... especially when every other student is cutting out that same pilgrim! There is such a thing as a artfully-crafted craft! That's where Craft Artists come in! Here is a great explanation of a craft artist from this site:

"Craft artists create a wide range of objects typically by hand. They strive to create unique art pieces such as clothing, jewelry, pottery, mosaics, candles, furniture, quilts, stained glass, and tapestries. They work with a variety of materials such as wood, ceramics, metal, glass, paper, and textiles. ... Many craft artists also employ fine art methods including painting and printing to improve the appearance of their creations. Some craft artists use recycled objects to create their art. Craft artists often display and sell their creations at craft shows, fairs, studios, galleries, museums, and retail outlets."

Our Adventures as Craft Artists
So as you can see, craft artists take their skills to create a handmade item that is unique! Art students at GCS did just that by creating funny and sweet Valentine Cards out of construction paper, glue, wooden sticks, string, and markers. Students had to create a self-designed Valentine centered around hearts. They also had to include a funny or sweet message that creatively captioned the picture. Your heart will melt when you read these mushy, lovey Valentines!!