Am I a Craftsperson, Artisan or an Artist?

It is always tricky for me to decide whether bookbinding is a craft or an art. I have had many discussions with people over the years at craft fairs and on courses about exactly what bookbinding is. I have always said it is a craft and yet my work has been exhibited in Art exhibitions. It is certainly a creative endeavour as whilst making a new book you are constantly making aesthetic and creative decisions. The late Sir Ken Robinson (https://www.sirkenrobinson.com/) described creativity as the generation of original ideas that have value.

Art is defined in many dictionaries as a skill acquired by experience, study or observation. By that definition it is definitely an art, but then fine art is something different again. Art to me is any creative endeavour that is designed to evoke an emotional response be that a painting, sculpture, dance, piece of theatre or art installation. I suppose that in making a book I am intending that people recognise the skill in making an object from raw materials and perhaps enjoy the background time and skill that has gone into the making of this single object - a book; again this makes it an art.

There are artists such as Timothy C. Ely who use Bookbinding to create beautiful, thought-provoking and intricate books which are absolutely art. https://aplanetarycollage.com/

However, when I am making a book and going through the sequence of steps required, measuring, cutting, checking for squareness etc., it feels very much like a craft.

I was shown a quote by Zoe the other day which, I think, really helps to decide what best to call Bookbinding. It is attributed to St Francis of Assisi and goes;

"He who works with his hands is a labourer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist."

This links really well to my educational philosophy which is based on the work of people like Rudolf Steiner (who I was reminded of by somebody on a course recently) https://waldorfeducation.uk/waldorf-education/rudolf-steiner-history and Otto Salomon and his Sloyd Education. Both of these thinkers promoted that education should focus on the hand, the heart and the head in equal measure.

Most of the time I am definitely a Craftsperson but sometimes, when making aesthetic and design decisions, I perhaps stray into being an artist.

Overall, I think I will go with Artisan which covers all of the work I do in one single, useful word!

David