To be. Or. Not...

Okay, so Paula Hewitt at The Beauty of Life wrote about her thoughts on the debate between "craft" and "art". Sharonb (see sidebar) also weighed in with her comment. So here is what I think.

People who call their work "art" often think they are different because they went to "Art School" or something and studied some sort of Art. Technically, for this to be so, their work should be peer reviewed - which mostly it is not. Their "Art" is not different to those of us who "craft".

"Craft" too, used to be what more skilled workers did, and belonged to guilds and had apprentices. Such as masons, carpenters and such. Nowadays these people are referred to as "blue collar workers" and frowned down upon by the "white collar workers". "Art" was usually limited to "painting", and included Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Renoir and Monet.

But now, anything goes, and craft and art are much the same thing. Often it is producing something to justify the huge expense of buying all those "artistic" goodies and stash. So unless you are going to differentiate with guilds and apprentices, you really are just another person with alot of expensive "artistic" goodies and a stash you have to reduce.

Unless you are peer reviewed, you artistic status is much the same as mine, and mine is that of a learner, or maybe "journeyman".

Galleries that wish to differentiate are also going to find themselves going out of business. So much is available on line and so much of it commented on by the "hoi poloi" that trying to have a gallery that is not commented on somewhere in the blogsphere is just not possible. People need to be able to interact with art, whether it is on gallery walls, on their own private walls or on the internet. If they cannot interact with art they are going to let you know about it in no uncertain terms.

It is not much different to the debate going on in the world of music these days. With so much music available on line, many music houses either have to adapt or fail. There are those who are trying to hold out for "the noble cause" but cannot understand why people are not flocking to them and their coffers are empty.

Art and music have become "common". They are not there just for the elite select few, they are there for everyone. The "hoi poloi" understand art just as well as the elite, select few. Just because they are not "megarich" and overeducated, does not mean they do not have an opinion, nor are they incapable of "truly appreciating" the subtleties of nuances within art or music.

Thus saith the hoi poloi ...

A bit of catching up ...

Because of my big cleanup, I have not been making things. I have not go anything to show you. But I have joined a social network for Stitchers, called Stitchin fingers. It is run by Sharonb, who I have talked about in earlier posts. I was going to do her Take it Further Challenge. These people are way too advanced for me. But in the group there are a cross section of stitchers, from beginners through to advanced. It is a lovely hub, and I hope to learn more, and contribute a little.

So when I have finished my cleaning up, hopefully today, I have some work to do. I am hoping that today will be the day I can take my machine to the shop for servicing, or if it is tomorrow, I can give it to DD for her to give to them.

Now that I have some really good storage for my crafts, and will get one for my sewing as well this week, I think I can be a bit more organised. Hopefully this will produce Art. The storage is really large boxes that slide into metal shelves, so most of it would be okay to just tape up for travel. A few things I would like to store more securely for travel, like my laminator, my clover iron, heat embosser and melt pot. They have electrical parts and I don't want to risk them breaking by being thrown around by careless removalists. Nothing like some tension sheet. (You know, bubble sheet that you get at the post office - on Red Dwarf it is called Tension Sheet - lol).

Then maybe I can vamp up and ramp up this blog to be something.

... never know your luck in a big city, as the X used to say ...

Star Book take 2 ...

Well, whaddya know? I no sooner post my Star Book photos and TV Weekly are giving out the instructions. I made my book in 2006, and there you go. It looks much the same. I will have to go check out what sort of glue she is using to make it.

What I like about the TV Weekly is that it is video based, they make it interesting and show you how to do it. I have done a few things from their shows. Very slick and professional.

cheers ...

Star Book ...

I love making books. Books that are glued or books that are sewn or books that are a combination of both. I also like folded books, such as a maze book or concertina book. Today I am going to show you my Star Book.

Okay, this is the cover. The paper was downloaded from the Canon site and was just so pretty.

The handsewn spine. I just used crochet cotton; but I used a cradle to mark all the holes. I have seen these made with a Zutter punch and wire spine, but it didn't look as good as the effect you get from handsewing.

The first open pages. The picture on the blue square is a gold stamp image.

Here I have cut out a frame on the left hand side and inserted a photograph. On the right hand are two tiny frames that have floral stickers to add a little focus. (Sorry the camera strap dropped down).

This is the tiled page stamped with my dragonfly art stamp and embossed. Opposite is an acrylic pocket with a tag. The tag top has beads and embellishments tied to it.

This is the last page. The tied thing on the back cover is a mini book. It has pages, but nothing in it just yet. I still have one or two small things to do to the book.

I think everyone should try at least one. This was the second one I made. The only problem I have had with it, is that the glue between the pages doesn't hold too well. It is quite heavy and I think this may be the cause. I will keep experimenting.

adieu ...

Adhesives, glue and other sticky stuff ...

As a horselover as a child, certain adults thought it would be helpful to inform me that dead horses got sent to the glue factory. The upshot of this was when I was starting school, when we had to glue and paste, I would become distraught at the sight of the Clag bottle and immediately burst into tears. My teacher would make up flour and water paste for me to use instead. It wasn't till I was in my teens that I found out this little myth was just adult humour.

I will not use this space here to discuss the rendering of animal parts into glue. In fact these days, I am not sure those of us in the West use rendered animal parts as glue, but use a petro chemical by product or something.

My first choice in adhesives are double sided cassette tapes. These are usually well made and not overly expensive and by and large do the job required. If I need something stronger, I use a clear liquid glue. Other adhesives I like are my sticker machines which are also fun.

I do not like stick glues. Stick glues always dry out and do not adhere after a period of time, usually less that a year. I have used several different brands and have found this to be true of all of them. I like the idea of a stick glue, and they are certainly the most inexpensive, but their longevity is not the best. When I want something stuck, unless I use repositionable tape, then I want it stuck forever.

When cutting an item that has been glued or even a glue tape with a removeable backing, first coat your scissors with versamark liquid from a stamp pad or pen. The versamark is easily removed later by wiping with a baby wipe.

I am sceptical about the "acid free" status of glues. What would be in a glue that made it acidic in the first place?

Will update soon ...

Taking the time ...

When you see something like the Wedding Album below, or other finished pieces of work, you have to realise that there has been much time spent in doing the item. I am talking years. You cannot just sit down one morning and say "I am going to make xxx". I cannot make a saddle, nor for that matter a bridle - I understand the concepts behind making them and as a horselover I would love to be able to - but apart from not having the tools to do so, I do not have the skills either. And it is the gaining of the skills in the first place that you require in order to make anything worthwhile.

The Album came about because I spent almost one or two nights per week for a year going to classes at a scrapbook shop learning the basics. I have books and magazines that I have used articles from, to experiment with various products to suppliment what I learnt at the scrapbooking shop. I have taken the money and invested it in the finest tools so that I have both the tools and skill to do this. But having said that, one of the skills that an artist has to have is a sense of colour.

When I first came up with the idea of the Album, knowing Kylie's dress was going to be blue, I had thought of matching the colour and using plain blue paper and stamping it and embellishing it in other ways, but still with the pieces torn and placed on each side of the pages. It was my daughter (who has also done much as I have with scrapbooking and paper arts) who suggested the yellow for the matting. Again it too is a different yellow from the frangipani flower centres too. But these colours work. They work because they are a whole. They go with the pictures, they are very modern and they are very beautiful. They are whole.

Each page is made from a single piece of card stock, cut to 12 inches by 11 1/2 inches. The extra half inch on the edge of the page is for the binding combs. So each page had to be moved in by this half inch. The back of this half inch border is re-inforced by another strip of cardstock so that when the album is open, there is enough strength at the hole for it not to tear. So in effect what has happened is that I have designed the pages for 11 1/2 inches by 11 1/2 inches.

I took the time to have the pictures developed in a lab rather than print them out on photo stock paper myself. My printing skills in this area are not the best, and as I know this, to do the album justice, the extra money I spent doing this has resulted in beautiful pictures.

Overall, it has been a fairly expensive project - it was a gift to the bride as a wedding present. Kylie is a lovely lady and she has married her dream beau, I thought she deserved something special to remember her special day. I could offer to make this album because I knew I had the skills, knowledge and tools to do it justice. Serendipity helps too, because I was looking for other papers when I discovered those lovely papers that I ended up using.

Still here ...

I am still here. I have been trying to upload some photos that seem to not want uploading. I will look at them again on the weekend and see if I can figure what is wrong. I have some things to show you including my TIF piece. So if all goes well I will back on the weekend.