Art vs. Craft

I love black and white florals! No idea what these flowers are, maybe primroses?
I love black and white florals! No idea what these flowers are, maybe primroses?

I know a few people from my previous years of blogging who get pissed off if you refer to them as practicing a craft.

From Dictionary.com: Craft means “an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, especially manual skill.” That’s not bad, right? It doesn’t indicate you’re doing something important with colored paper and paste in a kindergarten classroom, does it? The verb craft is even better: “to make or manufacture (an object, objects, product, etc.” with skill and careful attention to detail.”

The definition of art is ominous. From Dictionary.com: “the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.” And “the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings.”

The word “craft” is the one that resonates with me. If you’re practicing a craft, you’re creating something (possibly art) from skill and dexterity acquired through practice – also known as work.

“Art” lost me at the “more than ordinary significance” part of the definition. I love my “art” but that doesn’t mean you do. Is something only “art” if someone else says it has merit?  What about chainsaw carvings? I love those things. And why was writing not mentioned as an art?

Let’s give “craft” the respect it deserves. It’s a great word.


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Sources:

craft. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/craft (accessed: May 26, 2016).

art. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/art (accessed: May 26, 2016).

 

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