'Crafted’, ‘sustainable’, and ‘authentic’ are words in the copywriter’s lexicon that can mean pretty much anything they want them to. It seems that many things can be crafted now, not only treasured objects, but also coffee, beer and bread. They can also be ‘locally sourced’ and made somewhere ‘authentic’ and possibly even ‘storied’.

The problem with the new ubiquity of the word ‘craft’ is that it makes it sound effortless. The reality is that it’s exceptionally hard, as anything is that requires time, dedication, aptitude and thousands of hours of training. John Ruskin observed that fine art is a process that involves ‘hand, the head, and the heart’. David Hockney added the eye to the mix. There’s no doubt that the slow creep of technology has loosened the ties between all four, creating

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