Do you consider yourself an artist?

[DJole]

Ah, a question that I spent years in graduate school discussing! ;-)  Let me throw my 10 cents into the ring..

The word "craft" really has the same root as the word "art" (from "artifice," or something created.) Over time the notion of "craft" has been relegated to 2nd or 3rd place to the notion of "art," which has come to mean fine art.
People have basically three overlapping cultures: folk culture, popular culture, and elite culture. Here is how they are different: 
Folk culture is traditional over time and space, passed down usually in an oral context in small, face to face group situations.  Learning how to play the guitar from listening to Uncle George's playing in the kitchen is likely folk culture. 
Popular culture is mediated, meaning that it's passed down via mass media. Listening to a recording of George Harrison, and watching him play on TV, as  you try to replicate what you hear and see,  is pop culture. 
Elite culture is taught in formal instruction, and considered the "best." Studying guitar in school under a teacher's instruction, learning guitar tab, and playing in "art" concerts is elite culture. 

A traditional song, like a Blues piece, or a fiddle tune, can originate in a live setting or folk culture. But then it gets recorded by Bob Dylan, and played on the radio to millions of people outside of the original live culture, and now it's popular culture. You can then learn the song from listening to the record, and then somebody else may learn it from you and it could be folk or elite, depending on the situation. Art is slippery!

The only actual difference is the amount of money people will pay for a "fine art" object, which is basically an object that is useless for anything other than some expression of an idea. Paintings and sculpture are considered fine art. There is also "art music."
Then there is popular art, usually mass produced (like movies, or art prints or posters).

So... what about leatherwork? When does it become art or artistic? 

Well, artistic means that there is another layer of meaning in the aesthetic qualities. Think of a saddle -- that can be a finely made saddle, but was the creator adding on non-functional aspects to express delight, or culture, or some other idea? A craftsman can say that's a well made saddle -- good stitching, good design, and so on. But it's not really "artistic" yet. 
If the saddle maker decides to add some decoration, by tooling (non-functional, really) or use dyes to change the color, then it becomes artistic -- there is something beyond the thing, another layer of meaning. Why add tooling or color except to delight the eye, or the touch?
What if somebody made a fine-art saddle? Well, it would lose its saddle-ness. It would be a piece of art, resembling in shape but not likely to actually work well as a saddle. But it would certainly command a hefty price! And who would take a million dollar saddle out to work on the ranch?

TL, DR:
Yes, leather workers can be artists-- it's just that what they are doing is rarely fine art (there is some out there, but not much).
For many of us, the pleasure is not just the concept or the aesthetic choices, but function is important. 
And above all, the tastes and demands of the audience -- are they making pieces for people who want fine art? Then it's fine art. Are they making pieces for people who want a holster that works well but also looks good? Then it's still art. 

[bikermutt07]

Nice post @DJole.

[roo4u]

I am a braider...i consider myself an artist.  to me if you work in a factory making leathergoods same thing over and over you are just a leatherworker but if you make one piece at a time and strive to improve with every project you do, maybe looking to create something original you are an artist.

[immiketoo]

15 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

I am no artist, that is for sure.

And, @immiketoo is a dang liar. I've seen his stuff. He is definitely an artist.

I consider myself more of a copy machine.  Or a 3D printer of sorts.  Ask me to draw the art I put on leather and you'd be pretty disappointed.

 

[alpha2]

25 minutes ago, immiketoo said:

I consider myself more of a copy machine.  Or a 3D printer of sorts.  Ask me to draw the art I put on leather and you'd be pretty disappointed.

 

I'm right there with you! I like to think of my stuff as "slightly boosted up functional".

[bikermutt07]

1 hour ago, immiketoo said:

I consider myself more of a copy machine.  Or a 3D printer of sorts.  Ask me to draw the art I put on leather and you'd be pretty disappointed.

 

Well it certainly looks fantastic.

[immiketoo]

1 minute ago, bikermutt07 said:

Well it certainly looks fantastic.

Thanks, chief!

[Sheilajeanne]

7 hours ago, roo4u said:

I am a braider...i consider myself an artist.  to me if you work in a factory making leathergoods same thing over and over you are just a leatherworker but if you make one piece at a time and strive to improve with every project you do, maybe looking to create something original you are an artist.

I agree with this. My goal in leather working is not to find the most efficient way of churning out dozens of copies of the same item, but to learn how to produce something that is both functional and beautiful. But trying to find that line where craft leaves off and art begins is pretty well impossible.

[Retswerb]

This is a fun discussion. In many ways I think ‘artist’ may be more about mindset than output. I consider myself to be both an artist and a craftsman. I’m still fairly new to leather but this is who I am, and these are the mindsets I can apply to whatever I’m working on. In leatherworking as in other pursuits I draw on both of those skill sets to varying degrees project by project.

[BDAZ]

I am a former fine arts professor and department head. IMHO, there are two aspects of being an artist. First is mastering the craft of the media you are working in. This could be leather, water color, photography, paint, music, dance. Once mastered, a small percentage of the participants (my guess is 5%) then have the ability to create art using the craft they have mastered. The other 95% produce well crafted items that generally sell at a fraction of those items that are acknowledged as art. Sometimes the process of recognizing a true artists is impaired due to the cultural norms at the time the work is being evaluated. Most great artists have rarely been recognized during their lifetimes, and many who have been are discarded as our cultural aesthetic moves on.

As for me, I am definitely NOT an artist with leather. I am only interested in producing affordable products with a market and sufficient profit to justify my time. I consider myself a craft person, or artisan but not an artist. On the other hand, I do consider myself an artist in the realm of music and photography. Although I have supported my self well teaching and doing architectural photography, it was a means to an end. The same with music. I have the option not to either perform nor record anything I don't feel is "artistic". In addition, I will only photograph architecture that is worthy of my efforts, and have turned down many commissions.

I have seen many artists displaying their work on this site, work that I am sure, they could never charge enough to pay for their time, but that generally is not top priority for most artists. 

Just my two cents.

Bob