Creativity in its many forms

While I could be considered an artist because I'm a writer, it's always been the artists and craftspeople who make things -- paintings, carvings, sculptures, blown glass, etc. -- who feel like real artists to me. Perhaps it's because I don't have their kind of talent. It's possible they might feel about me and other writers how I feel about them.

I've been fortunate to meet a lot of these artists and craftspeople throughout the years, mainly when I was a writer and editor for a statewide feature magazine. We featured such a person in almost every monthly issue. I've watched glass being blown, a chainsaw artist at work, women making wonderful fabrics on looms, potters creating stunning pottery. Guild-worthy crafts are a big thing in the South, so there are several shows where you can go and see booth after booth of fantastic creativity. One craftswoman who you might see and who I was fortunate enough to interview several years ago was Anne Freels, who makes the most incredible corn-shuck dolls. These aren't the type of simple corn-shuck dolls you might have seen made at a harvest festival. Anne's are intricate, vibrant, stunningly beautiful.


When we expanded our monthly crafts feature here at the e-zine to include craftspeople as well as how-to articles, I immediately thought of Anne and wanted to revisit her world of corn-shuck doll making. If you visit the newest issue of the e-zine, you'll get to read all about Anne, her fabulous dolls, and where you can get one of your very own -- even customized.

How about you? Are you a craftsman? If so, what do you make? If not, who are some of the best craftspeople whose work you've admired?

Labels: crafts, e-zine

posted by Trish Milburn @ 9:53 AM