The Art in Craft

This post goes back to an occupation that existed before the time of electricity and interactive games; this is art and craft!

“Crafting is an ancient practice that is perhaps as old as the human civilization itself . . . crafting reflects the culture, tradition and history of a place and lives long after the culture has undergone modern transformations” (Bizymoms, 2012).

Art is said to be “the conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium” (The Free Dictionary, 2012).

During my second fieldwork placement I was allocated to a day programme involving the elderly. I really enjoyed this placement and I became an enthusiastic member of their craft table. Later into my placement I built up the courage to run a few craft activities. I had the opportunity to introduce new ideas and different crafts, two of these included jewellery making and fabric box making. During other sessions I helped members of the group with their craft projects while still allowing them to independently express themselves. I was shown great gratitude for this from both the group members and from the assisting staff.

Craft and art allows a great deal of expression of our selves as humans through occupation. Four words which we were given to think about in one of our classes (the same class this blog is for) were ‘do’, ‘be’, ‘become’ and ‘belong’. These words can have many meanings today.

Do: “To perform or execute, fulfill the requirements, carry out; commit, produce, especially by creative effort, play the part or role of in a creative production, mimic, bring about” (The Free Dictionary, 2012).

Be: “To exist or live, take place; happen; occur, to occupy a place or position, to continue or remain as before, to belong” (Dictionary.com, 2012).

Become: “To come, change, or grow to be, come into being” (Dictionary.com).

Belong: “To be proper, appropriate or suitable, to be in an appropriate situation or environment, to be a member of a group, fit into a group naturally, to have in one’s possession, to be part of something else” (The Free Dictionary, 2012).

At first these words seem to be all very different, but they are actually all very alike. These words are the resultant of occupation, in this case, participating in the craft table. To partake in the craft we must “do”, we then “be” part of the craft process, “become” craftsmen, and then “belong” to that craft group. These four words contribute to our existence as humans and the place in society in which we occupy. 

Under the title "Art and Craft slideshow" you are able to view my slideshow on different arts and crafts.

In order so show you the images within my slideshow I had to take in to account a number of ethical considerations. This is important as any image that is released onto the Internet can become used by anyone for any purpose and may cause offense to the original owner of the image. To prevent this any image I have used from the Internet has been taken from a public site and referenced. Photos that I have taken were taken with the consent and full knowledge of the participants. No names were used in my slideshow for the privacy and protection of the participants.

Bizymoms (2012). History of crafting: History craft. Retrieved 8^th March 2012 from http://www.bizymoms.com/hobbies/history-craft.html

Dictionary.com (2012). Be. Retrieved 22^nd April 2012 from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/be

Dictionary.com (2012). Become. Retrieved 22^nd April 2012 from

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/become?s=t

The Free Dictionary (2012). Art. Retrieved 8^th March 2012 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/art

The Free Dictionary (2012). Belong. Retrieved 22^nd April 2012 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/belong