| Art & crafts vary
from place to place and between every individual
culture of the world, but here is how the Arts and
Crafts movement began.
The Arts and Crafts
movement was believed to have originated in ancient
England when with reference to arts and crafts home
plans were created in a uniformly Victorian style.
Consequently, Victorian interior-decorations in
homes became so commonplace that mass production was
the order of the day. Some artists felt that
mass-producing art made it lose its flavor. Hence,
English artists like William Morris preferred to
choose simplicity and uniqueness over mass-produced
complicated designs. This led to collaboration
between respected, like-minded artists and thereby
gave rise to the Arts and Crafts movement.
The British and American art movements were very
similar in that artists from both places wanted to
maintain individuality and not give in to the
monotony of mass-production. However, though both
movements resembled each other in their ethos, the
artists from Britain and America did not work the
same way and adopted distinctly different trends and
styles.
While in Britain
artists started adopting a gothic style with, the
American style of art became focused on the natural
grain of the product. White-washed walls and
medieval-style wallpaper became the norm in British
interior decoration while ornate decorative
paintings were used to embellish pots. However, as
can be imagined, these changes were costly and
although one of the main ideas behind the arts and
crafts movement was to allow the layman to be able
to purchase interesting and unique creations, this
became impossible. Finally, such creations could
only be purchased by individuals who hailed from
wealthier backgrounds.
The main difference
between the British and American styles was the
cost-effectiveness of the former. American artists
were not completely opposed to using machines for
part of their task hence cost of manufacture and
actual labor was reduced. Thus, these products were
more economical and fell within the financial reach
of most people.
American colonies
also had their own range of arts and crafts.
Colonial arts and crafts included the manufacture of
wagons, rifles, pewter goods and furniture. Quilt
making and painting was also common. Colonies such
as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and
Maryland had a huge immigrant population in the
eighteenth century. This resulted in a fusion of
artistic styles which naturally was translated onto
the works of art of that era.
With worldwide
travel and the internet and such tools, there is a
global appreciation and understanding of the arts
and cultures from all over the world. In fact books
on arts and crafts for kids, no matter where they
are published, would even include styles that had
their roots in other parts of the world. It would
not be surprising, for instance, to see a book on
childrens arts and crafts with illustrations on
Papier-Mache - a traditionally French art form
commonly taught as part of preschool arts and crafts
- in one part of the book, while Hawaiian Tiki-mask
making features in another. |
