Page 119 - Constructing Craft

Mirek Smišek 1967. Photo: Geoffrey C. Wood.
Nelson Provincial Museum.

By the 1980s many craftspeople were able to earn a living from their craft and often
used the term ‘full-time’ to define their professionalism. For instance, a 1981 booklet

about the history of crafts in South Wairarapa used this definition in two of the
articles –‒ although confusion was evident here as well. James Greig, a potter and

the author of an article on professional crafts in the booklet, had no hesitation in

defining professionals as those who ‘are distinguished … by their full-time
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vocational commitment rather than by standards’. But, confusingly, he noted that
some hobbyists reached a professional level of skill and earned extra income from
craft. Furthermore, he observed that the growth of interest in craft had created an

‘interesting reversal’ of roles with, ‘the new professionals carrying on the tradition of
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the “amateurs” of an earlier age – “amateur” originally meant “lovers” of the craft.’
In the companion article on ‘Domestic Crafts’, Robin Sanders explained that for

these crafts:
Time is not a crucial factor; neither profitability; they do not
depend on public acceptance of their commodity … Their
motives are more private and altruistic. Theirs is an ideology of
goodwill and generosity, or “love” as some called it, and it is,
essentially, this characteristic that distinguishes these
craftspeople from their more competitive, professional
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counterparts.

Constructing Craft