Art in Everyday Life: When Is a Mug Not "Just" a Mug? (with Rachel Malcolm Ensor)

Painter and Oak St. Art Group member Rachel Malcolm Ensor talks about art in everyday life.

My husband and I support our local community by making purchases in our community. Recently we refined our goal even more by deciding to purchase handmade items for our home, particularly our kitchen, from artists in the area. Also when we go out of town, we seek out galleries and make purchases as we can.  Our most recent goal is to collect mugs made by artists, particularly really well-known artists, because this way, we can have something that is a specific work of art that we use every day, So we're integrating art into our daily lives.  

This connects to the idea of the Bauhaus in early 20th century Germany, that art should be part of our every day experience: The teapot should be a work of art, the glass we drink out of should be a work of art, and the chair we sit in should be a work of art.  We already had an extensive collection of art and artifacts, but they're not utilitarian. So this is a new thing for us, and we are loving it. 

As a friend of mine told me about bookmarks that I make, "You know, every time I read that book and use your bookmark, I think of you." And we do the same thing when we drink out of a cup made by [ceramic artists] Darby Ortolano or Rob Lorenz. We think of them and appreciate their artistry.

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Posted by Ann Fischer on behalf of Rachel Malcolm Ensor