I’m Baaaaaack! cue maniacal laughter

Gratuitous shot of bushwalking. Note the lovely grass trees.

One of the benefits of being genetically predisposed to bipolar disorder (Hi dad!) is the ability to snap out of bad moods, and regain my usual jolly demeanour at the drop of a hat. So if I’d waited a couple of days you wouldn’t have even known about Marvin the PA, the black dog and my other assorted woes. That’s the joy of blogging.

TIF May

I said I had a ‘meh ….who cares?’ attitude to the months TIF challenge ‘what do you call yourself, and why?’ Some of the questions Sharon posed are:

How do you describe yourself as an artist?

Have you noticed that the term maker is being used to describe the activity of various people who may in the past be referred to as crafts person, or applied artist?

The way I see it is if you can’t talk about what you do, or haven’t taken care in how you think about what you do, how do you expect others to respect the way you spend your time? Or how do expect people to respect what you make?

what do you call yourself and why?

I have an attitude

Well, I only had that attitude, because well… I had an attitude. Of course I have something to say about the issue. I have gone on and on and on about the art vs craft question because I find it interesting – in a general sense. I feel the term ‘craft’ is much maligned, and should be embraced as a quality concept (craftsmen ship showing real skill); rather than the crappy junk that the term craft tends to convey these days. Blah blah blah.

Shock Horror

However, I don’t describe what I do in these terms at all. I would never call myself an artist, because I think the term embraces a lot of skills and ideas that I could not, and would not, not apply to me. I think to call oneself an artist leaves the way open for you to be critiqued as an artist. I am not willing to do that, nor is it my focus. Nor do I call myself a craftsperson. I think the level of skill required to be a skilled craftsperson has eluded me (thus far). I am too much a jack of all trades to say that I am skilled enough in anyone area to have honed my skills to a craftsperson’s level. And……Don’t tell anyone- but…..I wondering why …shock horror…we need to label what we do at all……….

Maker, schmaker

I have noticed the term ‘maker’ being used, but I think this is a case of you say potatoes…… A craftsperson/artist/maker all essentially do the same thing as far as I am concerned.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Sharon’s third question was interesting. I rarely talk about what I do, especially in ‘real life’. Most of my real life friends aren’t that interested in what I do, and I’m not interested in trying to enlighten them. Frankly I don’t care if people don’t take what I do seriously, or whether other people respect what I do or how I spend my time. I don’t feel I have to articulate what I do, in order to gain others respect. If they want to think that I’m ‘cutting perfectly good bits of fabric into small pieces to sew them together again’ or ’spending hours stitching something that you can buy ready-made for less money’…..well that’s ok. Most people don’t respect the way I spend my time in the ‘non-fibre’ related areas of my life, why should this be different? Also if people don’t respect what I make, I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I make what I make because I want to, not to gain the respect, or approval, of others.

And the final question: what do you call yourself, and why?

I call myself Mama, ‘lovely wife’ (but that doesn’t fool Matt for a second), ‘devoted daughter’ (doesn’t fool mum either), but usually I just call myself Paula, because that’s who I am…….