Art, schmart.
Gilding the lily, by any other name still smells, be it 24 kt gold foil, patination, chatter texturing, stains, paints, carved feather patterns or spirals, it's all gilding the lily (and probably hiding some- thing). Give me a piece, be it a piece of furniture or a turning that does some nice wood justice and I'm happy to look at it or feel it and dig it.
Was listening to an interview with a poet on NPR. He gets up every morning around 4 am, makes a cup of coffee and plonks down in a comforatble chair in his living room with his pen and notebook. For at least the next few hours he writes. Most of what he writes is discarded, some rewritten and rewritten again. But he says sometimes an idea pops in to his head out of no where and the poem seems to write itself. He called it A Zen Thing.
Now I've known some very talented musicians, song writers, a novelist, several jewelers, a few painters, a sculpture or two, and a glass blower, as well as several ceramicists (more uppity than potters) and each has described the same type of experience - when everything just comes together - effortlessly, "just so" as my oriental philosophy prof use to say. THAT is when it becomes "art". When THAT then yields obscene amounts of money - THEN it's "ART".
The former takes place when the "creator " stops trying to create and becomes part of a mysterious process that the universe lets some folks be merely a part of and provides an endorphin thing to one of the participants. But it requires egolessness - no separation between "me" and "not me".
The latter - "ART!" is exactly the opposite - typically requiring plenty of ego and all the self hype that's required in The ART World.
Someone mentioned Sam Maloof and because he makes a lot of rocking chairs that all look pretty much alike, isn't really an artist. Mr. Maloof is in total agreement. "I'm not an artist, I'm a furniture maker." and a very successful one at that. He also makes table, dressers, arm chairs, dining chairs, stairs and all kinds of other pieces that are done to perfection.
Since I just experienced one of those "just so" periods where the wood "spoke", I listened, everything came together and I think I heard the wood say - "Ah!" as the last coat of wax was buffed to a high gloss.
Art? In this case I think so. When I look at a just finished piece and have a real sense of wonder how everything came together just so, then I know it's art and am grateful for having the opportunity to play in that special place - at least for a while.
The finished piece - another post card of that trip, a reminder of a "just so" time.
You, on the other hand, may have a very different opinion should you care to look.