What is Folk Pottery?
This month we will complete our discussions about what constitutes folk arts. In the first installment we learned that folk arts are learned traditionally in a community setting. The second installment described how folk artists are inspired by the past and the flexibility of their craft. This month, let’s explore the final two attributes. Folk objects can be both useful and beautiful. In rural communities art is not separate from everyday life. People decorated utilitarian objects to express themselves and bring beauty to their lives. Quilts do not need to be pieced in pleasing patterns to keep us warm nor does a blacksmith’s clothing hook need a decorative twist or leaf finial. The folk potter’s product, though utilitarian, was still aesthetically pleasing. Folk objects are handmade in an inherited tradition. Folk objects are produced by hand and not by machine. All folk objects are handmade but not all handmade items are folk objects. The work of local self-taught potters is not con
