goldsmiths - art and craft

I went to Leeds Polytechnic back in the 70's and got a Degree in Fine Art. At the time, art was conceptual,weird, performance, Turner prizesque and I loved painting. Oh dear, I was a bit of a square peg in a round hole and realised that my tutor encouraged me to go Leeds as it was radical and prestigious. Needless to say I was swayed by his arguments and rejected a more traditional college. One of the places that was held in great esteem was Goldsmiths.

Last night I watched the TV programme on this and it was so reminiscent of Leeds 30 odd years ago. The strange difficulty that students had in articulating what their work is about, the loathing of your own work when it's done, the sheer commercialism behind trying to sell your stuff and of course, none of the 'oh I love the colours' 'Wow, that looks great, I want it.' And it made me realise that Art and Craft have parted company.

Now in the handmade movement, people want to create simply to make something beautiful, useful, pretty, desirable and relatively cheaply, and that fits around kids, work etc. I feel much happier about doing this than creating something with meaning, that's challenging, and thought provoking and has to be justified. And now, with my sewn landscapes, I am making them because I love it- the process, the choosing the right fabrics, the colours and the satisfaction of making something that is complete in itself.