beyond useful and cheap

This morning, I am working on small boxes again, getting them ready for assembly. I am participating in a studio tour on Saturday and will demonstrate at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts and needed work that can be done on location while I visit with guests. What could be better than for me to continue my friendly competition with the Chinese and kill two birds with one stone as I entertain worthy art lovers and guests?

The average Chinese worker may make about 40 cents per hour, so no American could actually compete except by striving to make things that fit a category beyond useful and cheap. We call it art. And yet, I suspect that we are missing a lot in our lives by not being the makers of the things we use and that are found useful by others.

We could have a revolution. It would restore a few things, including common sense and a sense of personal engagement in creativity. Make, fix, sew, sow, not meaning so so, but with total emphasis on quality and caring and sharing a higher calling than being the mere consumer of manufactured crap.