Folk Art as it is

“Folk art” is a form of art that expresses a culture.  Members within a culture express not only their culture but also their selves. Folk art is more over looked than regular folklore.  I didn’t realize all the things folk art pertained to until I read this article.  In the article they explain that something as little as young kids drawing pictures is a traditional form of art within a folklore group.  There is a wider range of miscellaneous forms of folk art sculptures; quilts, paper ornaments, and baskets all are considered a form of folk art. Normally these forms of artistic expressions are passed down from generation to generation and have some type of historical and personal meaning.  While reading the article I became curious about a few things. For example in the old southern culture they produce quilts as a form of traditional and educational folklore.  Each peace of the quilt symbolizes something that is significant to that specific culture.  Today many cultures continue to make this significant pieces of folk art, but bedding companies also make them.  Can a store bought quilt still posses the same cultural symbolism as a handcrafted one even if the members choose to pass it down from generation to generation?  Even though all the folk art originated from the members of the culture there a lot of outsiders that either enjoy the product or enjoy creating the form of art for their own personal entertainment. A create example of this is in the African culture they make pottery and carve symbols that pertain to their culture and their experience.  They then use the pottery to make their lives more convents.  In America many Americans who are unfamiliar with the meaning behind pottery make and sale it to outsiders for decoration or house hold task.  Art and crafts are embedded within a folklore group.  It is also interesting to know that many cultures relate certain forms of art with gender roles.  In many instances females make things such as blankets’, quilts, jewelry, and baskets while the males make weapons, arrowheads and more strenuous complicated forms of art.  There are some things that both men and woman create such as painting, sculptures, and pottery.  Americans normally share the tasks among gender roles opposed to other more strict cultures.  Many forms of art produced where produced for a certain purpose and with the resources that were provided.  Even child hood toys are a form of folk art. Things such as whistles, rattles, and fiddles were produced by children and or their parents.  These products are still made and passed down to children for entertainment.  Woodcrafts and pottery are two of the most universally used forms of art all cultures use and create a large variety of these products.