Useful Art

In ancient times,
artisans wove stories and images into
storage baskets.
They etched and painted cooking pots and urns with
fine detail.

The practical and profound merged
and melded.

Now, hand knit socks are listed under
crafts on Etsy.
The art of knitting highly gendered and subsumed within
the subcategory of practical craft. Fibre artist not a common
term.

Is it the practicality or the gender which
imbues this bias?

Scientist have found evidence of both
female warriors among both the Vikings and
Mongols. Hairpins, clasps, and weapons all bear
marks of the artist who crafted them.
They also hint at social status and
daily life.

These finds challenge traditional understanding of historic gender.

Great British estates had ornate vegetable gardens.
Each section planted to provide food and
create a pleasing picture.

Useful Art

Now, city parks, backyards, and farms tend
to be divided into flowers, vegetables, and herbs,
with the latter two less likely.
Some are merely mowed expanses
without nesting spaces, nectar, or native species,
serving no useful purpose.

Although to dance upon the lawn is a reward
unto itself. As is to see sky and green amidst the
concrete. The park that is kept up
has some appeal, but how much more beautiful
one that supported the ecosystem and plants
park goes could harvest.

Potato blossoms are a remarkable
lavender flowers and poppies add a pop of colour within
vegetable rows.

While few reach the level of artist gardener,
a flare for the artistic and amateur farmer
is a creative space to inhabit.