At the center of the
creative process is the artists’ willingness to
test boundaries and take risks. Often humor and a sense
of play enable the imagination and its flow of ideas.
Contemporary artists are challenged to take traditional
craftsmanship in new directions, creating not only new
work but new ways of working for others. Newness, or
innovation, is at once the urge of individual expression
and a reflection of the openness to change or evolve
in the field of contemporary craft.
Neither are traditional artforms passed along
unchanged. As they come into the hands of a
new generation, they are recast into the present while
also referencing past generations. To be a craftsperson
is to draw on this wellspring of tradition and innovation.
In Southern folk pottery, for example, innovation coexists
with tradition. For generations, family potteries have
produced work for everyday use. Folk potters, like all
craftspeople, follow certain traditions including digging
local clay, and using hand-turning techniques and using
specific glazes. Unlike studio artists, these rules
are handed down through families who help train the
next generation. While these choices help shape a Southern
identity, it is the potter’s creative ability
that gives the work its unique style.
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