Seckmea: On book-binding and being an artist

Artist/craftswoman/friend Seckmea wrote a post for today!  What follows made me laugh, think, and nerd out.  I think it will do much the same for others!

During my introductory post on Headwaters, Pinnotheres asked me several questions that made me think about what it means to be an artist. As pleased and flattered as I am that Pinnotheres has such wonderful things to say about my artwork I have been reluctant for most of my life to consider myself an artist, artisan, or particularly skilled craftsperson. Indeed...for nearly 30 years you could hear me deny my "artist status." However, I have recently (in part from the acceptance and encouragement of friends such as Pinnotheres and partially due to admitting the truth about myself to myself) claimed my status as an "artist/artisan/skilled craftsperson" of many interests.

It seems silly now that I clung so hard to the idea that I wasn't an artist. Especially since I admired the artistic abilities of others and desperately wanted to be an artist myself. I believe this stems from the fact that much of what I enjoy doing (and get mass compliments for) seems very easy to me and therefore can it really be art? But no one said that you had to Suffer to create art or beauty (though for some this is very true). In addition there were things that I felt I was abysmal at (such as drawing and painting) which I felt were more "true art" than things such as embroidery and beading.

I have come to realize that I genuinely believe that everyone has the ability to be artistic...because art is an expression of a human thought or emotion which evokes a response from those who encounter it (this is my definition). Therefore, if you admire the bracelet someone is wearing that bracelet is art and the person who created it is an artist. Of course not everyone has the same definition of art as I myself have come to. And there is also the human tendency to not only categorize but also rank what we encounter...so there is a difference in the minds of many between "art" and "craft" (art being things like painting and craft being things like embroidery). However, in truth they are all art. There is also the tendency for people such as myself to "over-think" things.

A prime example of me over-thinking things is when I took a book making class in college. We were given an assignment to create several different examples of bindings (accordion, butterfly/pamphlet, Japanese stab bindings, and several others) and in addition we needed to create one book that was an "artist book." the definition of artist book was a book whose binding structure was part of the function of the book...the form followed the function as it were...this of course sounded terribly vague to me and I spent several days in a tizzy over it. However, I finally had a fantastic idea....I would use a shell as the "cover" of my book! Ah, the cleverness of me.

I quickly made several examples of different bindings:

 

Accordion

Accordion #2

Pamphlet stitch #2

Japanese stab binding

My oh-so-clever artist book...a scallop shell containing facts about scallops!

Modified pamphlet stitch with pages cut and then curled to look as if they are escaping the book

Or was it my artist book? I worked on my books until the last possible moment and did not have time to label which one was which for my teacher...I figured it would be obvious. So you can imagine my surprise a few weeks later when I went to an event where the best of our classes "artist" books were being displayed and I did not find my cute scallop anywhere...what I did find however was one of my other books...one I had turned in as an example of an accordion binding! Here are pictures of it in more detail:

Front cover

 

And here we see the inside...a thread is sewn through the "pages" of the accordion and the beading needle is left in the top of the book.

The front cover has a recess cut deeply into it to hold beads meant to be used with embroidery (they are very small and terribly fun to embroider with...and not just because they add sparkle!) The best thing about this is that when you move the cover you can hear the beads shifting around inside it! I was terribly proud of it (but still didn't think it was an artist book when I turned it in).

I made this book on a whim because I liked doing recessed bits on the covers we were making...and I wanted to see what would happen if I put something other than a flat piece of decorative paper in said recess...and once the cover turned out so cool...with the clicking and shushing noises that it made when moved it seemed only right that I put a beading needle and thread through the book as they were embroidery beads in the cover. 

The entire tiny book was an effort in curiosity created with materials I happened to have on hand due to an interest in another form of crafting. To me it was a thing of beauty that celebrated something I loved while at the same time learning something new. I did not consider it art. However, my teacher was blown away by my creativity. I realize now that this moment was when I truly understood what being an artist actually was...it was creating something that pleased YOU FIRST...either out of curiosity or out of a desire to create something beautiful or meaningful to you...and then releasing it to the world and letting the world decide how they felt about it for themselves.

So, what does this mean? Does it mean that it isn't art until someone says it is? No. It is created by you and therefore it is art...even if no one but you likes it. It is an expression of you and therefore it is important. I read an interview once (and have since forgotten where I read it or who it was with) and the journalist asked the interviewee what made someone an artist...and the person replied that anyone who must create or die is an artist (I am paraphrasing as I also don't know the quote by heart). I do not think someone must create or die to qualify as an artist, because I believe that art is an effort to communicate what one is feeling and thinking to others in some way...whether with words in the form of poems and books, or in some other fashion (for me, I create with fabric, string of all types, paper, beads, glass, photography, and anything else I can get my hands on). If you are creating things you are an artist to me. And as my example with art books shows...sometimes you "think" the art right out of a project.

Trust your instincts. Follow your curiosity and joy.

Share your work with those you trust (or via something anonymous such as a blog) and remember: Your point of view is as unique as you are the only one with it and therefore it is of importance.

Love and art by,

Seckmea