Many of us that work in what is traditionally considered “craft” are actually working in multiple disciplines. I make jewelry but I use drawing materials to apply color to my metal. So am I a jeweler or an artist or something else? I think this dilemma is one many of us face. Perhaps this is why so many of us have taken to referring to ourselves as makers. It’s not a very descriptive term because we could be making any old thing. It does, however, speak to the core of us. That intense need that we have to create something new, something that previously did not exist. A need lives in us that cannot be satisfied in any other way than to make. If we are not in the studio then we are usually creating in some other way whether it is in the kitchen, the garden, with music, or by designing our homes. It is a need that must be met. It’s our driving force and the key to our success. To be an artist, craftsman, maker or whatever terms you prefer, one must be driven. It is the only way to become proficient in a chosen medium. The creative life is a bit of roller coaster. There is the fulfilling moment of finishing a piece that you have worked hard on and then there are the rejections and the failures but we push on because whether we are successful or not, we must make. And so we are makers.
