Sunday, April 11, 2010

keyword: m a k e



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more quick posting - wandered over to the delightful swallowfield blog via the industrious and clever Kim at little something blog and found this image above by Jen Renninger that Jennifer (of swallowfield) snapped on the wall at Etsy headquarters. Given Etsy is the successful global enterprise that gets the creations of many out to the world I thought it a simple but fitting motto - 'making' being the key word for me... whether it is a garden, good food, a comfortable dwelling, or things to enrich ones everyday I would say when we make rather than buy we are more likely to be ticking valuable boxes for well-being and sustainabilty.
Which reminds me - has anyone seen that TV show on the chef in London trying to open a restaurant using all food sourced within the city limits of London. It makes one think about food security issues quite seriously!

4 comments:

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Hi Sophie,

Enjoying your interesting blog and your wonderful art so very much...
Thank you! And your comments about "making" are right on the mark! Gloria

Sophie Munns said...

Hi Gloria,
I'm very pleased to have you visit... it just felt like a good thought for the day.

I remember running a retreat 7 years ago with 14 lively women all creative in different ways and the best thing to come out of the weekend it seemed was having everyone actually identify with how many ways in their lives they are creative and see that the "art path" is only one way of many to express oneself and in fact - if one does not have the desire to give all to the pursuit of 'art' - the vocation so to speak then that is not the end of the world. Finding purpose and enormous fulfillment in some of the connected realms is a wonderful focus.

One talented person said she'd realised she only felt she would become a creative person of she started taking painting seriously but was so busy she did not know how to do this. At the end of the weekend she (and some of her friends) validated the fact that she used her energy in many directions that were immensely creative. She was a happy woman after this realisation... and said she now longer aspired to paint but to enjoy what she already was doing really well!

Of course lines blur between art, craft, design, artisans, makers, and that is a very good thing in certain respects. Too much focus on the dry angle of "professionalism", following blueprints, narrow pathways, grasping for external recognition too soon....these things can take one a long way from essential truths about why we make things at all.

I like the idea that we celebrate the idea of making things well - whether for self or to be shared and whether we are engaged as professionals or non-professionals alike. I love excellent art but I also love the care that my artisan baker puts in his sourdough loaves and the exacting artfulness in the bookstore/ gallery where I will exhibit next week or walking past the gardens of some neighbours and seeing their labour of love.

I appreciated you warm comments Gloria,
Best,
Sophie

em said...

hi sophie, i'm so glad i read your comment, above. though i don't have time to pursue all my artistic whims, i am lucky to do quite a bit of design work re metrics presentation. though the data is boring, my graphics are not. have you heard of edward tufte? you can go to tufte.com to find out more... might be an interesting resource for you. he is a world-renowned expert in graphics visualization and also a sculptor. his website is not appealing, however. you might be interested... i should email you some of the work i do for work... hm...

Sophie Munns said...

Em...

this is fascinating. I am so glad you were prompted to write about this.

I would loe to see what you are doing and Imust look up this link you offer...asap!

Anyone who creates a garden in my books deserves recognition.... and to do that very well is indeed an artform!

good to read your comments Em!