Artigiano

Like all of us, I travel in a number of social circles, some that intersect, some that don't. Among my circles are folks who call themselves "artists" and those who consider themselves, well, not artists.

I've been in the same room with folks whose pride in the word "artist" perfumes the air around them. Their disrespect and disparagement for people who do merely "craft" is all too obvious. "I'm an artist—and you're not. You just make quilts or knit sweaters. I'm making a statement."

Back when I was a newspaper reporter, I adopted the arts and culture beat as something of my own. I've interviewed poets and novelists, actors, singers, sculptors and painters and dancers. You name the cultural venue and I've probably interviewed someone who practices it.

Over time, it became quite apparent that folks with lots of talent and the wherewithal to make their livings with it were, for the most part, kind of humble. I mean they knew they could sing or dance or paint or act far better than the norm but that knowledge gave them a sort of inner peace. They rarely behaved like obnoxious boors, rarely made outrageous demands. They just were.

On the flip side, the further down the talent tree you explored, the more behavior problems you encountered. It's as if that slight dollop less of self confidence has to be made up with attention getting statements such as "I'm an artist."

So what in the world does that have to do with this hat you see perched on this tree? It's mine. I made it from a pattern I developed for the easiest crocheted hat ever.

I like to have a mix of long and short-term projects going at any one time, and these hats—which I can pick up and put down whenever and wherever—fit the short-term project definition to the proverbial T.

It's a well-made hat, one that I'm going to photograph the making of so I can develop a PDF that folks can download so they can make it themselves. I designed it. I made it. I give away the finished hats to a local homeless shelter called the Upper Valley Haven.

You wear it. It serves the practical purpose of keeping your head warm. It's not meant to decorate a wall. So is it art or craft?

I actually think the difference between the two terms is a cartload of what gets left behind the bull as he ambles along to the next cow in his harem. I prefer the word artisan, someone who is a skilled maker of objects by hand. It's from the Italian word artigiano, one who instructs in the arts.

Artisan—yes, I like that title very much.