The Difference Between Craft and Cult Worship
Art is made for any number of reasons. All artists are motivated and inspired in different ways, so it is ridiculous to try to say that there is any one right way or reason to create art. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One person’s trash is another persons treasure. There are a countless number of cliché phrases that highlight the fact that every piece of art is as unique as the artist who creates it and the person who appreciates it.
From my perspective I use art and the creative process to tame, and in some cases exorcise, my demons. Working with leather has brought me more peace and happiness than I ever imagined an art or a craft could. To me there is nothing more satisfying than getting an idea, working out with what and how to make it, and then actually making it. To see a project go from an idea to a finished product is the closest I will ever get to giving birth (thank God). Of the 400 projects I have completed so far I remember every one of them. I remember the struggles and the errors, but more importantly I remember the feeling when each was completed. Every “mistake” was hidden by the overall beauty of the piece or took on its own beauty as part of the whole.
When I began to become aware of online forums with other leather crafters I was initially excited to meet and talk to others who shared my interests, but that interest quickly faded the more I stuck around. I was proud of my work and happy to show it off, but the majority of the people I was meeting were more proud of their tools and the leather they were using than the actual creative process. I met many people who seemingly came out of nowhere, introduced themselves as complete novices, and presented works of such intricate and delicate beauty that I felt like a complete fraud in their presence. I could at least appreciate the beauty of their work, even if I had doubts about the authenticity of their claims.
I am always happy to share my knowledge and experience with others. People would often come to the groups with techniques and questions and I would do my best to add some value to the discussion. Eventually people would emerge within these groups who were part of the old guard, You could tell instantly because they would waste no time pointing out how many years they have been doing it, how big their shop was, how much money they had invested in tools, and how much better their techniques were than everyone else’. This was the beginning of the end of my forum participation.
Pretty soon I saw more posts about the value and quality of the tools and the price of the leather being used than I did about the actual projects. When people start to refer to tools by the name of the manufacturer rather than the intended function of that tool then there is an inevitable escalation from craft to cult following. The more I hear someones name associated with something the less I want to hear about it. I don’t think the art should ever be overshadowed by the artist. I was never a big fan of Andy Warhol, but I respect the fact that he would never sign the front of his pieces because of that same reason. His art was always more important to him than he was. The people around him put him on a pedestal, but he was always an artist first.
Whether you use the choicest leather sides for your project or you have the most beautiful tools, there is no substitution for the amount of love and care you put into your work. I have seen the most beautiful art come from the most humble of tools and I have seen absolute disasters come from the most expensive implements. Ultimately it is not the tool that makes the art beautiful but the hand, eye and heart.
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