I have some good news to share with you.
Manufacturing is making a comeback and jobs are being created!
But not in the way you might imagine.
Instead of large-scale manufacturing, your family, friends, and neighbors are starting to create all kinds of fabulous and unique consumer goods.
We’re creating our own jobs. We’re making things with our own hands. One of a kind pieces or small batches. Alone or in teams. We’re building businesses that are serving as a second source of income, or as our full time occupations.
For makers, lovers of handmade goods, supporters of local economies, and everyone else, it is an exciting time. There is an unprecedented variety of unique, beautiful, high quality handmade goods being produced, and they’re more affordable and easy to find than ever.
A Handmade Renaissance!
People are making stuff!
We’re relearning how to build, grow, cook, sew, smith, cobble, knit, work clay, glass, metal, leather, wood, stone, and everything else.
Sure, there’s nothing new about those skills, but they were on the decline for a while there. Some of the old timers thought they might be the last generation of makers.
Not so!
We are reclaiming many of our lost skills!
A new generation has embraced working with our hands, and we’re creating beautiful handmade goods of all kinds.
This culture might just be in the midst of a handmade revolution! A renaissance of artistry and craftsmanship.
Soapmaking and Smartphones?
Does it seem a little backwards?
It’s certainly an amazing juxtaposition! In the midst of ever accelerating technological innovation and development, the world of handmade goods is exploding!
If you’re not a maker, I bet you know someone who is. Maybe they make jewelry, or furniture, or ceramics, or clothing. Maybe they do it just for the joy or to give to friends. Or maybe they actually sell their creations.
And just maybe you or someone you know has quit their day job and is supporting themselves solely with their handmade goods.
How awesome is that!?
It might seem a little counter intuitive. After all, in the futuristic novels and sci-fi movies we’ve seen, people wear 3-d printed shiny jumpsuits, eat food out of a tube, entertain themselves with virtual reality, and mass production reigns supreme.
And yes, for a while there, in the late 20th century, it did seem that we were heading in the direction of a homogenous, technophilic, completely automated future in which no one works with their hands.
But it turns out that we like working with our hands and with our minds; making something from scratch and seeing a finished product. We love designing, building, creating.
And we value having objects in our lives, our wardrobes, our homes, and on our tables that are as unique as we are, that have a story, and that connect us in a real way with other human beings.
Creation, craftsmanship, and the appreciation of other peoples’ heartfelt labor are a part of what makes us human!
Of course, we love our smartphones too! This new handmade golden age is made possible by the Internet and all the connectivity, instant communication, processing, selling, and manufacturing capacity that modern technology enables.
Beautiful Necessity
This exuberant era of art, craft, and entrepreneurship is the beautiful result of the coming together of technology, the human drive to create, and (not least) the need to make a living in a tough economy.
Creativity may be a basic need and a primal human drive.
It’s also proving to be a source of much needed income for many artists and crafts people.
Can it be that this small-scale manufacturing that comes from the hearts and souls of the people making it will make a real difference in our lives?
I think so.
Could we be witnessing the re-emergence of the indomitable human spirit in the form of hand-crafted beauty?
This is what I believe.
I’ve been part of the handmade movement with my jewelry for about a decade, and I’m so very inspired and excited to see it continue to grow and pick up speed. I want to tell the many stories that make up the narrative of this movement.
I want to share the stories of individual makers, the venues through which we sell and share our work, the spaces in which we create, the patrons and customers who support us, our communities, and the many ups and downs of this creative life.
I also want to frame these stories, and this greater narrative, in a wider social, economical, historical, and cultural context.
(And, if that is not ambitious enough, I hope to one day tackle philosophical and metaphysical questions about the role and function of art, beauty, and creativity in human life.)
Thank you for reading this first blog post of many, where I will be profiling, interviewing, exploring, analyzing, and celebrating this wonderful world!
Please check out the beautiful handcrafted featured artwork:
Vox Aesthetica. 