Craft Artists

If making useful art is not just a hobby but your passion, you might consider pursuing a career as a craft artist. Whether you’re into throwing pots, blowing glass, welding sculpture, carving wood, embroidering linen, or weaving rugs, the objects you create are becoming increasingly popular in the marketplace. They can be found in a huge number of private homes and public collections around the world. Maybe your creations will become the next hot collectible.

Craft artists create works of art that have a practical as well as an artistic purpose, including ceramics, jewelry, art glass, quilts, furniture, welding, and weavings.

Are You Ready To...?

• Spend years mastering your craft
• Continue to develop your feel for color, light and shadow, and composition
• Work with local galleries and specialty shops to sell your work
• Attend retail and wholesale art craft shows to sell your work
• Join a craft artists' collective, in which members share studio space and other resources
• Apply for grant money

It Helps To Be...

Creative, artistic, and good with your hands. In this uncertain field, you’ll need to have faith in your abilities, patience, and a good head for business.

Make High School Count

• Use your high school years to gain experience in your craft. Take studio art classes at your high school or at your local community center or park district.
• Sign up for other electives, such as welding, shop, and art history.
• Join or create an art club for students.
• Try for a booth in a local art fair.
• Enroll in a summer art camp or workshop.
• Attend as many local galleries and art fairs as possible. Talk to the artists you meet there.

“I started making a lot of phone calls to friends to let them know what I was doing, because I feel like the best way to get clients is word of mouth.” -- Leslie, Home Accessories Designer