ANST - A&S "skill ranks"...

[Dennis and/or Dory Grace]

Hi all, Aquilanne here.

Lord Mykaru Kurodachi,
"whowillapparentlyspendhisentirecareerintheSCAp--singoffthosewithhigherrank"
  wrote:

>    We are told give recognition to our wonderful artisans. WE DON'T
>HAVE ARTISANS.We have some HIGHLY skilled technicians. We don't create
>new things. We reproduce crafts and designs ALREADY in existance. ANY
>good technical artist or craftsman (non-SCA) can turn out 85% of what we
>see as Laurel work. Perhaps this is why to be a Laurel it is NOT just
>mastery of a craft.
<snip>
>We
>(and I do include myself) are craftspeople not artists. We are like many
>appretices to the masters for example Rembrandt...instead of creating
>our own we {slavishly?} imitate. It is the nature of what we do.

WoooHooo! Here it is, the old "what's the difference between art and craft"
question. It's a doozy, alright, whether in the SCA or the mundane art world.
Rather than plunge right into that particularly can-o-wormy debate of
art-vs-craft, let me pose a question. Do you think the *masters* in period
were artists, artisans, or craftspersons? How much personal/individual
perspective/expression do you consider requisite to constitute "creativity"
or "originality" in a piece? Consider, for a moment, that many--if not
most--period masters were at one time apprentices who were 'slavishly
copying' *their* masters' works.

If you'll notice, calligraphic and illuminative styles were a bit on the
slow side to change throughout most of the 1000 year period we pay
attention to. How much originality do you think the Limbourge brothers
slathered into the Tre Riches Heures? While I do tend to agree that much
*strict* re-creationist work--where someone has *copied* an extant
work--relies more heavily on craft/technical ability than on
art/creativity, there's a lot more room for artistic expression in
period-based work than you might think.

>Technical competance comes mostly from
>patience and attention to detail it is not enough. IMPRESS me, show me
>the love of your work. I will admire any technical work for the time
>involved but unless it has a soul it might as well be machine made.

I agree that technical competence comes largely from patience and attention
to detail; also, might I add, a seviceable level of eye-hand
coordination--any combination of which are no mean feat. As to "it is not
enough", I assume you mean it's just not enough to impress you. As someone
who's given over a good deal of years to artistic endeavors, including a
college degree and an SCA peerage and a decade of living as a
professionally starving artist, I'll tell you what: in this day and age,
just the fact that someone is involving themselves in some kind of artistic
endeavor impresses me. We live in a mundane society that devalues art
almost criminally and those art-starved societal values haunt each and
every one of us who risk attempting our hand at any art/craft/etc. I hope
you think about this and keep it close to heart if/when you're in a
position of teaching/coaching/influencing any aspiring (or for that matter,
well established) artist/artisan/craftperson. As to wanting to see "the
love of one's work," might I suggest that the simple *existence* of a piece
gives solid, tangible witness to some level of personal investment.

I gotta tell you, saying "WE DON'T HAVE ARTISANS" is not only an unfair
generalization, it's an uninformed generalization. You might reconsider
making such an absolute statement. There are many, many scribes out there
who've never directly copied any extant period work, myself being one of
them. (I came close to directly copying a work once, but only because it
was commissioned that way. Whew! ;->) Most successful scribal work requires
an understanding of layout, design, composition, color, and balance, along
with developing an eye to understanding why period styles come off looking
like they do in order to attain the appropriate look for, say, a Viscounty
scroll. Successfully combining diverse elements of a recipient's persona's
period with the recipient's persona's favorite things and the recipient's
favorite things/colors and fitting them all together requires a good eye
(looking/seeing is an art unto itself) and a good sense of design.  
 
>  People say I have the wrong attitude. Maybe they are right. <snip>
>People critique/criticize my work, that's fine, trust me like any artist
>I am my own worst critic. Take pride in your work but don't expect me to
>be impressed unless it has heart.

Might I share a long-time observation that maintaining a sense of wonder
and appreciation for others' artistic efforts frequently comes from either
a novice's lack of experience or from having attained a goodly amount of
experience and/or a bit of wisdom. Perhaps you're just at a plateau where
you have some things you need to work through for yourself before you can
open yourself to the possibility of wonder and appreciation for others'
work again. We're all capable of artistic expression; it's a precious
ability, and one that we need to be aware of and nurture in each other.

Ramble mode off now. ;->

Aquilanne

 
Dory Grace--The Inkwell
denouncer of Tytyvylus & warrior crone
amazing at mail.utexas.edu
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