¡Felíz Día de Los Muertos!

Had great fun handing out candy last night. There were a few more kids than usual this year, but still the crowd was pretty small and mostly finished by 8:15 or so. We sat out on the lawn near the sidewalk with the fire pit and going and had paper bag luminaria lined up. It looked great! S wore a witch hat, black dress and pointy black boots and handed out the candy. El Esposo bought full size candy bars and Reese's from Costco. He likes for kids to think "wow!" when they get candy at our house! (His competitive nature!!) I like it because I have fewer empty wrappers to feel guilty about after I'm done snitching halloween candy--ha ha!

Now on to today's interesting link....I had planned to write about art vs. craft awhile ago. I think about it often while I am weaving. I have been thinking about it more since we have the budget cuts and classes are being cut out of our schedule. The art program at school has been hit hard (harder than the math and English classes for example). It is interesting to me what is being cut and I wonder about why. Weaving and jewelry are now alternating every other semesters. Painting, design, and the other major classes are being offered (I understand this). Ceramics is also being offered, but with reduced choices of times. At the same time it seems that potters are considered to be artists more often than weavers or jewelry makers. (How often do you see woven items or jewelry in a gallery?) I don't have the answer to the question of what makes it art, but I like to think about it. I see some things and I know they are art, no matter what the medium, I see others and I know they are definitely crafts. There is a wide range in the middle where it isn't clear to me how the distinction would be made. It isn't as simple as good=art, bad=craft. There are good crafts and bad art. Are they really on one spectrum or are they two separate things?

Anyway, now there is a different question that I can ponder while I weave. Is it art or is it gardening?! Take a look at this NPR story Gardener Prunes A Topiary Paradise and look at the pictures. Without the story and knowing the time and thought that goes into these I don't know that I would have thought of them as art. But after reading about the time and thought and long term (decades of) planning that it takes, I am more inclined to agree with the museum curator that it is living sculpture. But I'm not sure that makes logical sense. I don't think the equations time=art, quick=craft would be the right definition either. Then I think, maybe it is the thought behind it that makes it art. But there are artists who create without all that planning and thought, aren't there? Well, it is an interesting question that will remain a question, I guess.