Jailbirds!

Folk art, crafts...sometimes there's a fine line between "crafts" and "trash". Sometimes a keen eye can tell them apart. Sometimes time passing can be the only test. Usually it's just a matter of opinion: any piece of handmade craftiness could be a treasure to some and junk to another. 

I recently started making t-shirts, so I know this. They don't impress everyone all the time; in fact, I now no longer really care for the one that reads "WWWTF". It had a lukewarm public reception but seemed like a good idea to make. 

Folk art comes about when an entrepreneurial spirit conceives a notion that is unavailable on the public market. This is either because it's so genius that nobody's thought of it yet, or maybe it was invented but not marketed well; maybe the time was wrong for it; maybe it was just a bad idea. Maybe the art/invention is so brilliant and demands such skill that only one person in the world could ever make it. (That is the case with my t-shirts.)

Be your own judge on this piece. It was at a craft sale on the Fourth of July in Steilacoom, a small town near Tacoma. I opted to take its picture rather than buy it, and see if the test of time would lead me to regret this decision. It's been almost a year and I'm not losing any sleep. Don't get me wrong -- I like a lot about it! It's creatively built, makes you chuckle, and it has a function -- just not for me.

Jailbird-house, Steilacoom, 2011.