Comments on: Gear Shift. Plus, the Mapula Embroidery Project!

By: Keith Harshman

Keith Harshman — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:34:17 +0000

Hi, I can’t understand how to add your blog in my rss reader. Can you help me?, please ;P

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:29:14 +0000

Great post, you are so eloquent! Lots to think about. I live in the dithery land between art and craft most days, and I find it so tedious to try and describe what I do. It is what it is, and the labels just make it easier for the people looking at it.

But need vs. want, wow, there’s something. To meet my emotional needs I desperately want to be making things. They are not necessarily useful things. Think of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which states that once the basic needs of foods, shelter, clothing are met, the creative drive demands to be fulfilled. Hmmn, great seeds for thought.

By: Ger

Ger — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:48:15 +0000

I´ve begun to think about that, too – that handcrafting here (enjoying the full benefit of the therapeutic nature of stitching), the problem of getting paid fairly for handmade goods, the flood of cheap + ugly textiles in the shops (+ the influence they have, on the long run, on those using them) – + the situation of those producing/sewing them in China, Bangladesh + elsewhere are all two sides of the same coin… No easy answers to this, indeed… – thanks for the Bukowski post, too…

By: Hand Craft

Hand Craft — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:55:41 +0000

Shift gears from drinks to dinner at the Cinnamon Bear Restaurant, located in the hotel, featuring cuisine from the Pacific Northwest. Hand Craft

By: Becka

Becka — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 03:13:49 +0000

Ha, I was so excited to see this post as I have been thinking on exactly these things lately! In fact, I have a post or two of my own brewing so I’ll have to let you know when they’re done.

I think the need vs. want is a really important question (and totally ties into art vs. craft) that needs to be discussed, and also the idea that they’re not mutually exclusive. That you can create something that you need, and to still make it something that is beautiful. I think in general, these ideas really start to tug at the idea of privelage, and the fact that I have a whole lot of it. Also, while of course I love craft and am all about getting back to a more simple way off life which in many ways seems frugal and practical, it is at the same time a huge luxury.

Anyway, I’m so glad you’ve started the conversation!