Saturday, April 10, 2010

It's just jewelry!

Today was the second Saturday of the month. The National Transit Studios are open from 12:00-5:00 on the second Saturday.

Sometimes we are busy and sometimes no one shows up. Today was fairly busy as there was a demonstration of a Camera Obscura and a display of the birdhouses that were painted for the Rails to Trails fundraiser.

I didn't make any sales today but did make some contacts for students. And, one never knows who might come back and make a purchase in the future. (Plus I have a tendency to market my classes. I need to work on marketing my jewelry.)

But the thing that stands out from today (and I really need to let this go) is the guy who walked into my room and said "Oh, it's just jewelry. I thought it was art!" Then he left. Grrrr.

This battle has been fought for years (and I thought the battle was over. Guess not!) This guy probably still thinks a sculpture has to be bronze and a painting has to be done in oil. That a drawing is only a means for planning a painting and that water colors are done by little old ladies with nothing better to do. Obviously jewelry, weaving, basketry, etc. can't be art.... they're a craft. If he goes to a museum, he'll have a heart attack. Times have changed.

Okay, I'm done venting. Thanks.

3 comments:

Joann Wheeler said...

Actually, the word "craft" has been downgraded to the point that it no longer applies to what you are doing, Ally. I'm still wondering who that guy was! My great aunt Loretta used to marvel at my artistic abilities when I put maraschino slices on the jello salads, which goes too far in the other direction -- "You're all artists" she would say to me and my siblings, and it made us furious!

Zoe Nelson said...

"When the flush of a new-born sun fell first on Eden's green and gold,
Our father Adam sat under a tree and scratched with a stick in the mould;
And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,
Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves, 'It's pretty, but is it Art?'" -- Rudyard Kipling

This question has been with us forever!

Alice Walkowski said...

I didn't take his comment personally as he never really came all the way into the studio or looked at anything. It just bugged me that his general opinion of all jewelry was that it wasn't art.