The Difference of Art and Craft

Wonderful craftsmen throwing a pot  photo by elizabeth gordon

One of my pots that I sculpted and fired raku style

A craftsmen of excellence in the Asheville area

a high relief sculpture pot with varied texture and raku

two photo's of high relief collage using a craft

taking a pottery beyond craft

These two photos show an ink printing process developed by my teacher Kathy and myself.  In my mind this is taking pottery beyond craft.  The image is my Mother in her twenties and her love of biology

Here I am learning the art of glass fusion, but once again treating it like collage.
I have other ideas about how to bring glass fusion in to my fine art

Craftsmen showing the skill of trimming a pot

One of  my experimental and creative raku sculpture 

Here I am working with printing on alternative surfaces

As a fine artist I struggle to explain the difference between craft and fine art, especially, when I am taking craft classes and surrounded by craftsmen.  What I realized is craftsmen can perfect their craft, they can be creative in shape or form, create a new glaze, or fuse glass a little differently, or weave a basket with a new skill....but there is where it ends...the vision to take it beyond to another level that is the insight of the creative fine artist.  This quote by Bayles says it far better than I can.  I study crafts, take classes, but the end is always to take it back to my own art and expand it or deconstruct it to something else.

“The difference between art and craft lies not in the tools you hold in your hands, but in the mental set that guides them. For the artisan, craft is an end in itself. For you, the artist, craft is the vehicle for expressing your vision. Craft is the visible edge of art.” from David Bayles Art and Fear