Read an interesting post by Mark Boulton - Not a craftsman.

I usually like what he's written, but in this case, I have to disagree. He's defining it wrong. ;)

But wai nugget?

Well see...

"If my uncle was restoring traction engines for a living, he would’ve been out of business. Craft is love. And love takes time. And time is scarce and probably best spent elsewhere."

That statement immediately made me think of the story where Picasso does a little sketch in 5 min. A potential buyer goes 'Omg! How can you charge <whatever ridiculous sum> for something that took you 5 min to do?!?!' Picasso looks down his nose regally, and replies, 'That, ma'am, took me my whole life.' (Or something similar.)

I disagree that craft has to be slow. Yes, love takes time. Expertise takes time. But that doesn't mean you bill your 10k hours to your clients directly. The 10k hours you have under your belt are what affects the asking price you give to clients! The 10k hours are the love.

The 10k hours are your craftperson's gift to the leanan sidhe that you can never get back. ;)

Also, because everything is always about food, anyone who thinks craft has to be slow has never watched a real sushi chef at work. XD