Craft

[poliphilo]

I'm not very good at housework. Housework is a craft. I can push a duster along a flat surface or a vac across a carpet, but the results don't sing- not as they would if a proper crafts(wo)man were wielding the tools.

Talking about craft, I was watching a documentary about British pottery last night. I already knew I loved 17th century slipware, but now I love John Dwight's 17th century stoneware too.  

I'd love to be a potter, but only if I could skip the apprenticeship. I'm too impatient to be a good craftsman. I want the finished masterpiece in my hands, now.

Comments

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

You unregenerate chauvinist! Do you really think somebody teaches anyone how to dust? Do you really think there's a craft element? Get real. It's a chore, like wiping your own arse, which I presume you have full certification in?

OK I'm having a bad day.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

No really, it's a skill. Some people are better at it than others. And it's nothing to do with gender. My mother, for example, is useless at house-keeping.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I think dusting is a bad example, because it's quite simple (still, I have some lamp shades that require the right technique when dusting them if you want to do them in 5 seconds, rather than 5 minutes!), but something like mopping a floor is actually a skilled craft. I once took a 2-week course, 8-16 each day, in cleaning, and I learned so much that I would never have worked out myself.

The chauvanism only comes into play if one believes it's a certain gender's responsibility - and ability - to clean, which is clearly not true. We can all clean well, though some have a natural knack for it and some - like myself - need to be taught. I imagine that's quite similar to pottery, really.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Cleaning skills have nothing to do with gender. The two most chaotic homes I've ever been in both belonged to women.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

And if the dusting really is singing to you, then please check that the object you are using to wipe the shelves really is a duster and not a pet canary! ;-0

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ailz can go into a room, move a few items around- and it looks brilliant. I can go into the same room, spend half an hour trying to sort it out and it will still look like a tip.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I'm great at housework, but I just can't be bothered... That's why I've got a robot vac that just rolls around on the floor in random patterns and get most of the dirt; then I just need to wield the "real" vac when it needs to be completely spotless and I can let the robot do the weekly vacuuming.

I just need an appliance that can clean the windows for me, because I really can't be bothered and they are in dire need of attention!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I can't be bothered either. Once in a while I'll realise we have visitors coming- and I'll panic.

I like the idea of a robot vac. Bet they're expensive, though!

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

It was about a hundred quid, I think. (Housewarming present from my mother-in-law - gotta love her!) So a bit pricey for a vac, but not Dyson-pricey... (Denis also has a Dyson that his mum bought for him while he was a student; what's with that woman and vacs? Still, I'm not complaining.)

[faunhaert.livejournal.com]

there's"http:// flylady.com" she's pretty good.
- she teaches stuff like cleaning
i mostly remember what a friend who used to clean houses said.
"clean from the top down."
we were janitors for 10 years and that's basicly what we did.
I really like the memorial- i pinned it! @ pinterest.com.
here's what that pottery piece reminded me of
"http://woodedwoods.blogspot.com/"
doing sculpture is possible with out the apprentice ship
there are doll sculptors tutorials for all types of clays
and the basic techniques transfer to all.

the desire to make some thing is the basic need
to get one started and you've got that.
and a ball of clay there are several recipes for air dry clay
or perfect porcelain airdry clay....

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I find it hard to believe that air-dry clay is really as good as the stuff you have to fire in a kiln.

The memorial to Lydia Dwight is beautiful. Did you seek out its companion piece "Lydia Dwight resurrected"?

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

That stoneware piece is shockingly good.

On housework, I quite agree. I once worked for a company that taught electrical contractors how to estimate and manage jobs more efficiently and got to see those same general principles applied to a start-up domestic cleaning service. There can be no doubt that someone that cleans professionally is just as much a craftsman as as an electrician, brickmason or millwright.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I walk into a room that needs taking in hand- and I just don't know where to begin- so as often as not I just walk out again.