by M. L. Kiser

Created on: November 09, 2010

This debate certainly dredges up some memories.  I come from a long line of creative people, artists and crafters of many types, included and I have to say that it is both.  I have tried to get this across to those who would rather separate the artists from the crafters, but to no avail.

As an artist and crafter, I have worked in many mediums, from drawing and painting to stone and wood sculpture, as well as, dulcimer making and jewelry making.  I prefer to work with wire and beads, but sometimes I have been known to make and paint my own beads and pendants. 

Having displayed my work in shows and craft stores for a number of years, I dared to try and get an appointment with the manager of one of my town’s most recognized art stores, where I’d hoped to see my jewelry laid out for purchase by people from all over the state and elsewhere.  I made the phone call and received a firm, starched-collard voice on the other end.  I asked for the manager; the respondent insisted that she wasn’t in and that I had the, assistant manager on the line. 

After telling her of my plans and my creations, I asked for an appointment so that she could see my jewelry.  She responded with a short, snippy, “Beading isn’t art!” 

“It is if you design and hand-paint your own beads and pendants, which I do, sometimes.  Couldn’t you set up an appointment to see those?”  I asked.

“No.  Beading is crafting; not art.”  Click!  She hung up the phone on me. 

Ten plus years later, I am passing her store when I see what?  Beaded jewelry!  Not only that, but an abundance of it and little of it was even hand-made beads or accessories.  I was livid, but didn’t go in because I knew that once I opened my mouth in that store that I stood an excellent chance of getting dragged out of there by the cops after a heated scene.  Still, the ignorance and arrogance levels of the, “creative elite”, never cease to amaze me.

Since crafting anything encompasses it’s being created by hand, elements of design, it’s overall aesthetic value and more, art, in itself, is indeed a craft, as is photography, cabinetmaking, glass blowing, stone carving and there is even a craft to the art of portraiture.

All crafts encompass an element of design; someone has to have in mind, the end result.  Often the completed design may

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