Folk art is different from fine art or high art. Folk means "of the people." It is art created by people who were not trained as artists. Folk art is often useful, rather than a piece to be admired. It can show what objects people used and valued in a particular time and place. Two objects that became American folk art are quilts and decoys. A quilt is a large piece of fabric, usually meant to cover a bed. A typical type of American quilt is a piece quilt. Piece quilts are made by sewing different pieces of fabric into a pattern. Some patterns show stars; some show snowflakes. Some are simple, and some are very complex. Quilts were often made by women, either alone or in groups, and were often given as gifts. Beautiful, complex quilts were treasures that were passed down from parents to children in a family. African-Americans developed their own style of quilting, as did the Amish. African-American quilts sometimes tell stories, while Amish quilts are often plain and less colorful. Another very typical American folk art object is the decoy. Decoys are objects made of wood that are painted and designed to look like ducks and other waterbirds. They were first used by Native Americans to attract live birds. The first English settlers learned the skill from the Native Americans. Though decoys were useful objects, some of them were painted very beautifully and realistically. Like most folk art, each decoy represents the region in which it was made. Decoys from different parts of America have different styles of carving and painting. They tell a story about their small part of the world, just as the quilts do.
民俗藝術有別於藝術或是高等藝術。「民俗」指的是「屬於大眾的」，這是指由沒有受過專業藝術訓練的人所創造的藝術。民俗藝術通常都很實用，而不是只供觀賞，它可以顯示出人們在某特定的時間和地點所使用或重視的物件，最常被視為美國民俗藝術的兩種物品是被褥和誘餌鴨。 被褥就是一件很大的布料，通常用來蓋在床上。一種典型的美國被褥就是百納被。製作百納被的方法是將很多種不同的布塊縫成一種花樣，有些花樣是星星，有些則是雪花。某些簡單，其他的則較為複雜。被褥通常是由女性縫製，可以單獨完成，也可以是團體分工，成品常被做為禮物送人，漂亮又複雜的被褥是家族裡代代相傳的寶物。非裔美洲人以及阿米緒人都各自發展出一套獨特風格的製被方法。非裔美國人的百納被有時會述說故事，阿米緒人的百納被通常較簡單，顏色也比較少。 美國特有的另一個民俗藝術就是誘餌鴨。誘餌鴨是一種在木頭上上漆，並讓它看起來像是真鴨子或其他種水鳥的東西。一開始是美國原住民用來引誘鳥類的道具，後來首批的英國移民向美國原住民學到了製造技巧。雖然誘餌鴨是很實用的東西，有些仍被畫得很漂亮也非常逼真。就如同其他的民俗藝術，每隻誘餌鴨都有其地域性，美國不同地區製作的誘餌鴨，其雕刻和繪圖方式也不同，他們都訴說著自己世界的故事，就像百納被一樣。 | 
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