Artisanal Quotes

Everywhere I go, I always look for creative entrepreneurs, whether it's artisans and craftsmen, small farmers and gardeners, or restaurateurs who use fresh, locally sourced ingredients. I admire the courage and self-reliance it takes to start your own business and make it succeed.

It's easy to assume that just because you make something in small volumes, not using many tools, that there is integrity and care - that is a false assumption.

I have always been interested in materials and in transforming them.

I don't like things that can be reproduced. Wood isn't important in itself but rather in the fact that objects made in it are unique, simple, unpretentious.

I would like Americans to make things with their hands. Thomas Jefferson and I feel that makes for a much stronger nation.

I've always believed that pastry chefs are born, not made. They're patient, methodical, tidy, and organized. It's why I stick to the savory side of the kitchen - I'm far too messy and impulsive to do all the measuring, timing, and rule-following that pastry demands.

Traditionally, those that work in fashion have always had the point of view that items made by hand have their own aura and are something special.

Even in making objects, as soon as you start to get the feeling that some form of craft is coming into place, you realize that everything is wrong. Because craft is really just a fetish. It is wasted energy. It's about the object, some space which has nothing to do with the human.

To be an artist or a writer is to be this weird thing - a hand worker in an era of mass production.

The detail that goes into couture stuff is insane. Everything is handmade - every sequin, every double stitch.

I really like stuff that is collectible that you can hold and go, 'There's only a few people that have this.' I like to see that someone's put a lot of labor into making something.

You might think the word "homemade" is just a word we use as a marketing ploy. But what you don't realize is that the staff sleeps here at night. If your tablecloth is wrinkled, that's why.

If I am a cup maker, I'm interested in making the best cup I possibly can. My effort goes into that cup, not what people think about it.

So much of my background is about making: physically doing it myself.

I like manual things, doing things with my hands, the feeling of touching.

Handmade things tend to be so expensive that only a small part of the population can afford them. And yet making things with hands is such an essential part of being human.

My very first products were hand-made, one-of-a-kind pins. When I finally realized I could repeat a phrase to make multiples, 'intellectuals gone bad,' a fairly succinct description of my own life, seemed appropriate.

I grew up in a craftsman's home, where things were done with our own hands. I did cabinetmaking for four years and I hated it.

I've always been creative - I baked, knitted and crocheted with my mum and grandma.

I want to be part of the resurgence of things that are tangible, beautiful and soulful, rather than just give in to the digital age. But when I talk to people about this they just say, 'Yeah, I know what you mean,' and stare at their mobiles.

I love Chanel. Everything about her was personal. All of those lions she made, she handmade them. Red and green, they were her favorite colors. She kept it personal and real, and she was a woman.

I must have been born with a strong attraction toward, and possibly even an aptitude for, doing things on a small scale.

Our dresses take a long time to make.

You can grow grapes in almost any part of the world. You just have to develop your palate enough to realize wine is an expression of the place where you make it. You don't have to take over the world; just be an artist and express your area.

If I wasn't a writer, I would probably be a watchmaker. I like putting puzzles together, and that is what a watch is, figuring out how all the gears and everything else works together. I'm patient and good at focusing on a single task.