Art or Craft?

Since we watched the PBS episode of Craft in America, my husband and I occasionally discuss the line between art and craft.  If you are looking for a final answer on what defines art vs. craft, you'll have to look somewhere else.  I'm still wobbly on just where the distinction between the two lies- the lines to me are still blurred.

I paint and, now and then, weave.  My husband, Tom, calls himself a carpenter, and makes a living by it.  I often point out that he's more like an artist sometimes and then he says, no a carpenter is just fine for me, and I say… You get the picture.  I'm considered an artist by society because other than being looked at, my creations are fairly useless as far as function goes.  Tom believes that function is beauty.  So do I, for that matter.  Everything he makes is functional.

Consider chairs.  Tom loves to make chairs.  Some of them are designed from chairs I've admired and some are creations from his mind that fill a need inside of him to make something.  Let's look at the process.

Tom needed a new finger-sized plane, so using an old chisel for a blade he made himself one.  Often times he, like me, needs a warm-up project to get the creativity flowing.

Before he started cutting the oak for new dining chairs recently, he made a mock-up out of a left-over 2x12 pine board.  (After the grandkids came to visit, we decided upholstered seats were OUT.) We liked the mock-up enough to keep and use it.  

Ready to make the oak chairs, he cut each piece out and fitted them together so that they were tight.  Amazingly enough, each chair has 26 mortises cut into it.  The part that never ceases to fascinate me is knowing that he has this chair already put together in his head.  No drawn out plans; he works from his head.  I don't think in 3-D, so this blows my mind!  

The seats of the chairs are all carved out and shaped exactly the same for a comfortable sit-down.

Here is one of the dining chairs finished and ready to use.  They are quite beautiful, and as he says, "Bomb Proof!"

An 18" high chair he made for little people to sit on when they visit us. The seat is calf skin.  This chair gets used!

This cherry piece was made by hand-tools, including ones that were made just to create it.  The bent back, legs and seat make this a graceful piece of art to me.  It goes with a matching desk that I treasure.  

After we got my art show hung earlier this week, we were talking about this concept again and Tom said something that I've been pondering on since.  He told me my paintings were finely crafted by an artist.  They were painted with my best craftsmanship.  He's right, but further they are ideas from my own mind.  Talk about blurred lines! His cherry chair (pictured above) is to me exactly the same thing.  It's just functional.   

The house we live in, the bookshelves, cabinets, tables, bed frames, mirrors and chests in it are all things from his creativity.  He builds things from inspiration he feels inside himself.  Frank Lloyd Wright said, "Whether people are fully conscious of this or not, they actually derive countenance and sustenance from the 'atmosphere' of things they live in and with."  I can say that this holds true for my life.  The things Tom makes are finely crafted and made to last generations.  Is that an art?  I say it is, but as to whether these things are defined as "art" is beyond me.  You figure it out, and when you do, get back to me will you?