Devon I think your "complex thread puzzle" is a very good way to describe lacemaking and its appeal. I think the problem is not with your description, but with the reporters' misconceptions. They probably can't imagine anyone wanting to spend 100 hours making anything, and they don't know anyone who would. Part of the problem, I think, is that textile crafts are usually seen as "women's work" and is therefore relegated to 2nd or 3rd class status. If we were all becoming master wood carvers they would be more impressed. But woodcarving is usually seen as "men's work" and is therefore more highly regarded as a craft and an artform. One way to present lacemaking is to say that it is the textile equivalent of carving a life size eagle in flight with each feather delineated.
If you managed to get across the "complex puzzle solving" aspect of what we do, I would call that a success. It sounds as if the reporters may have written their articles in their heads before they ever showed up, and just came to acquire the specifics to make it "reporting" instead of "essay". When people ask me why I do it, lately I've been answering that I do it not for HAVING lace (that is what collectors do), but because the process fascinates me. I tell them that the process grabs hold of my emotions and puts them in order (rather like listening to Bach), and that the process is addictive and soothing. I take a dim view of reporters in general. I've been written up in 3 different local newspapers: 2 were local or alternative newspapers, and the first was one of Chicago's main papers, the one with world recognition. That first one, the reporter got half her facts wrong, and when she called to verify accuracy, and I told her the list of mistakes, she refused to change anything. (I have no idea why she called!) The other two, the lesser rags, did get their facts right and the articles were actually quite good in relating the totality of involvement -- craft, art, history, research -- that lacemaking is. Lorelei - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
