What's the Difference between Artist and Crafter?

bessiemae · Joined: 26 Dec 2004 Posts: 282

Puzzling through this one, and thought I'd ask the Creatives at GetCrafty.

I formally studied art at University and have 1/2 a BFA, but it's only recently I've identified and embraced "Artist".Why? I don't have a good answer, for myself, except that "Artist" has so many connotations and expectations attached to it.

What's the diference between Artist and Crafter? Which are You? Why?

sjkmaurice · Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 456

I call myself a crafter because I mostly make things, but don't design them. I crochet from patterns and get ideas for my daughter's crafts online and in books. To be an artist, I think one has to be original in their designs. Just my opinion, though! (don't want to be offending anyone)
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craftview · Joined: 13 Jun 2005 Posts: 37 Location: San Diego, CA

I think -- I'm both -- I'm a Designer by profession and a Crafter by choice.

I do however design what I craft :) because there are so many ways to solve a problem -- I can't for a moment believe that everything has been done already.
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delqc · Joined: 20 Oct 2004 Posts: 720 Location: Canada

Historically, only men were Artists. I recently read the book The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. If I remember correctly, it describes how embroidery became an "occupation" at a time when it became fasionalbe to have embroidered clothes, linens, etc. At that time, the males wished to exclude themselves from women and ensure that only they could obtain profitability. They therefore defined themselves as "artists" and became a guild; they were the only ones officially allowed to sell their embroidery for money. Women embroiderers were limited to doing so for their own enjoyment, but not for profit.

Also, while painters, poets, etc were "artists", women traditionally have been viewed as untalented, and their efforts in this area written off as "hobbies", etc. I firmly believe that the view of the crafter as a domestic hobby is simply a devaluation of women's labour. Similarly, would you call a male chef a domestic worker? No. "Culinary artiosts" is often used. So why is a female who prepares food not an artist? Only because as society we devalue her labour.

I create beautiful things that are a pleasure to look at, to touch, to use. Therefore IMHO I am an artist, specializing in textiles. But I do not consider myself to be a professional artist as I do not make my living from my work.
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punkinpie_prod · Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 117 Location: Illinois

I am an artist. I think up, design, create and market what I make.
I love the fact that I can call myself an artist. That is what I have always wanted to be and so... that is what I am. Degree or no degree.

DevilDoll · Joined: 05 Jun 2005 Posts: 179 Location: San Diego

Someone who calls themself an artist has some degree of confidence in their artistic talent - they take their work and themselves somewhat seriously on that plane.

Artists can be crafters - and often are - but you don't have to be or think of yourself as an artist to be a crafter. You can just be a regular person who thinks it's fun to make things.
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go-fish · Joined: 17 Oct 2004 Posts: 144 Location: skamokawa, WA

On a very simple level, I think...
one of a kind pieces = artist
reproducing a thing over and over = crafter (or artisan, if you will)

To take it a bit deeper, I figure an artist is attempting to evoke something with her work, to tap something in the person who "consumes" the art. Are crafters trying to do this? I don't know.
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loser__kenzie · Joined: 31 Jan 2005 Posts: 34 Location: Ohio

I think of myself as an artist sometimes; rarely as a crafter, despite being one. Usually I just think of myself as creative, because for me, half of the fun is just thinking up ideas for things to write, make, or otherwise create.
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Nancy Flynn · Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:16 pm Post subject:

i think more like DevilDoll-- I am a person who likes to make things.

Possibly if you make things that have a utilitarian function, that is more artisan/crafter, although Frank Gehry and Phillipe Starke are considered artists (i think) and make functional things. So, it is a fine line. Kate Spade designs purses, but is she an artist? Is it, as go-fish suggests, a question of whether something is one-of-a-kind? Often artists reproduce their work as prints or etchings or castings, so that is not always the case either.

what an interesting thing to think about! i like hearing everyone's thoughts on this...
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bessiemae · Joined: 26 Dec 2004 Posts: 282

pink_moustache · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Posts: 14

Frank Gehry is an architect, doing some product/furniture design...perhaps he crafts at home, but that's not his profession.
Phillipe Stark is an industrial designer, specializing in product design and furniture....
I personally would never call my occupation (product design) an art, or a craft. Most of the professional designers, design for mass production, design for a need, or for a desire...their finished product is designed to be sold, the process involves many specialists in other fields (engineering and marketing), they build a couple of prototypes, and then the project is shipped off to be manufactured on a factory somewhere. Artistic expression is often devalued for the sake of profit.
Craft also often creates for a real human need, but it's manufactured very often by the designer, the crafter. That's how I differentiate between craft and design ( and by design I mean product design...not the design as an act of conceptualizing, but design as an occupation.)
A piece of pottery, although an example of utilitarian craft, can be artistic ( sweet proportions, thoughtful color scheme, use of texture) or a sketch of a toaster done by an industrial designer is not only informative and explains the function of a product, but also shows some artistic skills ( good composition, value...etc)

To me fine arts are created mainly to express the artist's thoughts, and aren't functional...of course, there're plenty of creative people whose work borderlines with art, craft, and design ( places like Droog), but the whole point of their work sometimes is the fact that they explore and question the boundaries between craft and art and design... There're also plenty of examples of pretty militant approach to craft and art or design, where people make f'ing sure that nothing mixes up and 100% pure art, or 100% pure, craft free design is the output.

oscine · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 99 Location: ohio

the main difference is the ego.

at my school, my teachers always say that things that are "crafts" are not welcome at the student sales.

it's like my purpose in life to involve "crafts" into my "art" .. i want to create installation pieces using knitting and potholders, i want to incorporate needlework into my paintings...

i want to fill galleries and confront people with what was called "the private arts" and "domesticity"

ugh. </end rant>

creativecat · Joined: 18 Mar 2005 Posts: 48

To me, the difference between art and craft is has nothing to do with the media or the finished product. Art is the idea and concept. Design is the plan. Craft is the process. You can do just one of these, but most of the time, they all work together.

PS to Oscine: Check out an artist named Judy Chicago. She used a lot of "women's crafts" in her work.

bessiemae · Joined: 26 Dec 2004 Posts: 282

canary · Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 78 Location: Tennessee

Websters says art is a skill acquired by experience, study, or observation; the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects. And craft is an occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill.
Six? or half dozen?
I've recently wondered about this same subject---and it's reassuring to see others exploring the art vs craft question.