I've Discovered 'Craft in America'

And it's about time!

MASTER WEAVER J. ISAAC VÁSQUEZ GARCIA WITH HIS SON - PBS

Hi CC friends. I published a piece over at my other Substack, Writer Everlasting, this morning and I thought about cross-posting it here, but I decided to link to it instead. That way those of you who have never visited over there might want to take a look around. I love both of my spaces and the people who come to visit. I love that some of you are one and the same—you’ve subscribed to both! And I thank you!

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I’ve been thinking lately about how often I tend to search out programs that show creative people at work. I love cooking shows—too many to list here—but I really love shows like The Great Pottery Throwdown, Landscape Artist of the Year, Portrait Artist of the Year, The Voice, and even Bob Ross. I want to see how their minds work and I’m almost always in awe of their talent. How do they do it? I don’t have an answer to that at the end any more than I did at the beginning, but I find such satisfaction in watching them do the thing they love, not necessarily calling it ‘work’ but working at it until they think they’ve got it right.

This entire PBS series, Craft in America, starting way back in 2007, is like creative work on steroids. As I was watching it, I was already thinking, ‘I’m going to write about this!’ But I put it off because everything I was feeling about it was just too overwhelming. Watching those creative artisans at work is simply breathtaking.

Well, instead of going on about it, how about I just show you what I mean? Here it is. I hope it will inspire you to watch these people at work, and then maybe go on to do your own thing.

And of course the comment section is open over there, as well as here. We’ve already started a conversation, so come on over and join in!

The Absolute Need for Art and Craft