Work with Beauty and Spirit
This special issue of Arts & Crafts Homes is devoted to the output of today’s revival, which has entered its fifth decade. Like that of the original movement, today’s work…
This special issue of Arts & Crafts Homes is devoted to the output of today’s revival, which has entered its fifth decade. Like that of the original movement, today’s work is diverse. (Alas, we could have filled twice as many pages! Find even more at artsandcraftshomes.com, in various article posts and in the Products & Services section.)
As was true a century ago, today’s artisans are less concerned with style, and more with their approach to design and manufacture. They consider the peculiarities of place, use discernment, marry design to craft, and often work cooperatively with other artists and tradespeople. Their clients are looking not for what is trendy or for the cheapest option, but rather for a connection to the maker. Arts & Crafts is not about consumerist acquisition; it’s about making and having fewer, better things.
What a pleasure it is to see the work of today’s designers and craftspeople. It’s impossible not to appreciate the beauty and quality of their textiles, their pottery and tile, their work in metal and glass and wood. Today’s artisans have a deep knowledge of the original movement, and use their hard-won skills to bring us new interpretations. The revival is a living evolution.
The Arts & Crafts movement and its revival see beauty where it really lives—that’s why there are so many vernacular and regional expressions. Wherever you live, Arts & Crafts is there to speak to you. Its buildings may be stone, or brick, or shingled, depending on custom; its motifs may refer to the designs of the Navajo or to local fauna. Under the Arts & Crafts umbrella you’ll find expressions as different as those of C.F.A. Voysey, Gustav Stickley, Greene & Greene, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
The revival that began gaining speed in the early 1970s has lasted longer than the original period—and is producing work equal to better than that of a hundred years ago. It’s an honor and a pleasure to publish it.
Patricia Poore,Editor
ppoore@homebuyerpubs.com
10 Harbor Rd., Gloucester, MA 01930
Patricia Poore is Editor-in-chief of Old House Journal and Arts & Crafts Homes, as well as editorial director at Active Interest Media’s Home Group, overseeing New Old House, Traditional Building, and special-interest publications.
Poore joined Old House Journal when it was a Brooklyn-brownstoner newsletter in the late 1970s. She became owner and publisher and, except for the years 2002–2013, has been its editor. Poore founded the magazines Old-House Interiors (1995–2013) and Early Homes (2004–2017); their content is now available online and folded into Old-House Journal’s wider coverage. Poore also created GARBAGE magazine (1989–1994), the first unaffiliated environmental consumer magazine.
Poore has participated, hands-on, in several restorations, including her own homes: a 1911 brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and a 1904 Tudor–Shingle Style house in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she brought up her boys and their wonderful dogs.
