People today can go to a big box store and get almost any item needed for daily life. If they can't find it there, they can visit a specialty store or go online. In the old days, people often had to make what they needed or do without. This is the reality that vintage crafts evoke for us today. Artisans practice the handicrafts, and collectors hope to preserve handmade objects; both seek to prevent the loss of these old skills and creations.
Crafting is working by hand with almost any material you can imagine, while the word 'craft' can denote the skill itself or the object made. Arts and Crafts shows are so named because many objects made to serve a necessary function are also works of art. In fact, the artistic urge leads many people to engage in crafting as an outlet for their creativity.
A good example is knitting. Fishermen in northern climes needed to keep warm even when drenched to the skin by rain or sea spray. Their women made them thick, closely-knitted sweaters out of wool from their native sheep. The natural lanolin was often left in the wool for its waterproofing qualities. The women were not content to knit plain patterns but developed intricate cables and ribbing that have beautified knitted garments ever since.
Everything needed for the home and farm was made by the people who would use it or by artisans that worked near-by. Furniture, bedding, eating utensils, candles and lamps, clothes, shoes and boots, and tools of every kind were homemade. But consider the creativity that embroidered sheets and pillowcases, made colorful quilts and woven blankets, turned the legs of chairs and tables, trimmed dresses, and waterproofed leather boots.
We all know that useful things can be beautiful. Think of baskets, hunting decoys, pottery jugs and dishes, cut-glass drinking goblets, hooked rugs, woven blankets, and stained-glass windows. Soap was perfumed, flowers were dried to preserve their colors and scents, candles were tapered and curved, chair cushions and pillows were decorated with colorful tops.
The exciting thing is that much of this heritage has been preserved by careful owners or in museums. It's easy to find objects to admire that may be hundreds of years old. Even textiles - needlepoint samplers, embroidered dresses, smocked christening gowns, evening shawls, and beaded bags - have survived for generations.
People practice, teach, and learn the techniques. Community colleges offer classes in quilting, yarn work, pottery, and jewelry making. Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg, arts and crafts shows, and frontier museums can see silver casting, candle making, book binding, yarn spinning, and glass blowing demonstrations. People see the Amish farming in the old ways as they drive their modern cars down super highways.
It's important that the old skills not be completely lost. Not only are they part of every society's heritage, but they also evoke the times and people of long ago who loved beauty and incorporated it into their everyday lives. Working in wood, stone, metal, clay, animal skins, riverbank reeds, or worn-out things (old files were made into pocket knives), people used to and still can make utilitarian things that are works of art, too.
Crafting is working by hand with almost any material you can imagine, while the word 'craft' can denote the skill itself or the object made. Arts and Crafts shows are so named because many objects made to serve a necessary function are also works of art. In fact, the artistic urge leads many people to engage in crafting as an outlet for their creativity.
A good example is knitting. Fishermen in northern climes needed to keep warm even when drenched to the skin by rain or sea spray. Their women made them thick, closely-knitted sweaters out of wool from their native sheep. The natural lanolin was often left in the wool for its waterproofing qualities. The women were not content to knit plain patterns but developed intricate cables and ribbing that have beautified knitted garments ever since.
Everything needed for the home and farm was made by the people who would use it or by artisans that worked near-by. Furniture, bedding, eating utensils, candles and lamps, clothes, shoes and boots, and tools of every kind were homemade. But consider the creativity that embroidered sheets and pillowcases, made colorful quilts and woven blankets, turned the legs of chairs and tables, trimmed dresses, and waterproofed leather boots.
We all know that useful things can be beautiful. Think of baskets, hunting decoys, pottery jugs and dishes, cut-glass drinking goblets, hooked rugs, woven blankets, and stained-glass windows. Soap was perfumed, flowers were dried to preserve their colors and scents, candles were tapered and curved, chair cushions and pillows were decorated with colorful tops.
The exciting thing is that much of this heritage has been preserved by careful owners or in museums. It's easy to find objects to admire that may be hundreds of years old. Even textiles - needlepoint samplers, embroidered dresses, smocked christening gowns, evening shawls, and beaded bags - have survived for generations.
People practice, teach, and learn the techniques. Community colleges offer classes in quilting, yarn work, pottery, and jewelry making. Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg, arts and crafts shows, and frontier museums can see silver casting, candle making, book binding, yarn spinning, and glass blowing demonstrations. People see the Amish farming in the old ways as they drive their modern cars down super highways.
It's important that the old skills not be completely lost. Not only are they part of every society's heritage, but they also evoke the times and people of long ago who loved beauty and incorporated it into their everyday lives. Working in wood, stone, metal, clay, animal skins, riverbank reeds, or worn-out things (old files were made into pocket knives), people used to and still can make utilitarian things that are works of art, too.
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