Achieving Balance – Making a living in Craft NeoCraft Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. NeoCraft Conference

Is possible to ‘make a living’ in craft and maintain a balance between personal/creative fulfilment/achievement and commercial gain? In the current technological climate, does ‘making a living’ in craft mean there is a need for compromise and if so where or what should it be?

Both of these questions will be explored. However, as well as discussing issues concerning quality of life, this paper will also look at the meaning and identity of craft and discuss this within the context of western industrial culture. The work of David Pye, Soetsu Yanagi, Peter Dormer, Tanya Harrod and Jorunn Veiteberg (amongst others) will be referred to.

To further contextualise this position, the paper will also refer to my 10 years experience of being a craft-practitioner and discuss how I moved between business practice and craft practice. It will focus on the resultant voyage of discovery which led me to frequently ask what ‘making a living’ in craft means from the perspective of the maker. The journey also raised questions concerning craft value, knowledge and aesthetics.

This research has significance in a wider context;
• the integral part that craft and craft knowledge plays within art and design and the importance of this in a technological era.
• the significance of ‘making a living’ within future crafts practice.