Right now there is a small room in the SAM devoted to a collection of paintings by one George de Forest Brush. (Makes me wonder if he chose his own name.) He was a late-19th-century American painter who focused on depicting native Americans in their natural setting. Of course at that time Brush was well aware of the destructive end the natives were being lead to by the American government, and he was already wistful for the times before industrialization and the advent of mass production.
In this painting (my favorite in the collection I saw) Brush pays tribute to the simplicity of the honest, hand-produced laybor of a hard-working individual. (and it's been said that Symbolism did not cross "the pond" when it was flourishing in France and England. Pah! I say to that, and here is the proof!) Every detail in the painting refers back to the time when we were connected with the making of things and could savor the pride of skill. (Learn more here.)
This painting touched me, for it is a visual representation of my own philosophy on art. I feel that artists today are (sometimes) too removed from their craft. The "artist" in today's definition is the visionary. They are the ones who pay the craftsmen to make their vision. Like the weaver in the painting, I take pride in the things I create and cannot imagine how to realize a vision of my own without having my hand in it.
I try to live my philosophy in regard to all things, but most of all with my artwork. Since I had never worked with metal before, I had thought about hiring a professional blacksmith to create the armature for my mobile. Yet my artist's sense of responsibility towards my public demanded I learn a new skill. It may turn out a little more "primitive" than a polished and perfect product, but when this project is finished you will be able to look at it and know that every part of it was molded in love by my own hands.