High Art? Low Art?

Everyday Art...A Tribute to Maggie Voiers   watercolor   13.5 x 10

Sometimes I am saddened by the number of people who think that art is for the moneyed elite. I guess it is because those are the folks who can afford to buy our work. To me, "high art" is represented by sculptures, paintings and hand-pulled prints. I was amused when our new art museum in Akron offered a knitting seminar, calling it "everyday art" (perhaps to broaden the visitor base?). Our grandmothers created everyday art. We created everyday art and, somehow, our culture considers it to be less important, less grand and less worthwhile. Sad. Our assignment in watercolor class was to create a painting of a relief, a piece of lace, a doily, etc., thereby learning the lesson of negative painting, which is to create by painting the spaces, rather than the object itself. I chose crochet as my subject and dedicated it to a local artist Maggie Voiers who has made thousands of innovative and amazing crochet hats and given them away. For me, everyday art is made up of so much human spirit. I wish that there was no distinction.