Comments on: Is There a Downside to Teaching Your Art? < Deep Thought Thursday

By: Amy Greenan

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:27:40 +0000

I love this answer!

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By: Elizabeth Carr

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:08:41 +0000

I realize this is an old blog, but I just found it and read everyone’s comments… What a fountain of knowledge and experience to draw from!
In my experience, the only “downside” to teaching is the energy that goes into it subtracts from the time and energy I have to expend on my own art. However, the inspiration I gain from it may very well make up for the energy expenditure. I don’t know how many times a student’s questions or ideas have sparked new ones that have lead me down a path of creativity I might have never otherwise explored.
Teaching also provides impetus I need to think hard about my process and techniques that go into creating my art. Knowing my nature, this thinking would probably go “unthought”, if I weren’t having to explain it to others.

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By: Elizabeth Carr

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:56:35 +0000

In reply to Brad Sears.

I could not have said this better, Brad!

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By: Elizabeth Carr

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:35:57 +0000

In reply to Michael Orwick.

Very well said and I totally agree.

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By: Janice Tanton

Mon, 16 May 2011 14:08:12 +0000

My Ten Commandments of Teaching::
1) DO – Give as much as yourself as humanly possible to your students.
2) DO – Encourage skill-building in every form.
3) DO – Share all the secrets that you have.
4) DO – Notice what your students notice and ask for feedback constantly on your teaching methods and techniques. You will learn.
5) DO – Be confident in your voice as an instructor and guide your students to find their own voice.
6) DO – Assume positive intent.
7) DON’T – Consider teaching related to your marketing your works. (They are completely separate, and you owe it to the profession of “artist” to pass along what you know to those who do not. We are all the better for it.)
8) DON’T – Ever propose just “one” way of doing things to your students. Be open to all the possibilities.
9) DON’T – EVER knock another artist or teacher. Guide gently.
10) DO remember that in the past, ateliers were the method by which we learned our craft, passing it down from artist to artist in an apprenticeship form. Instill this in others.
I would never have learned what I have if it were not for the generosity of artists that took me under their wings and into their studios, taught me their techniques, concept, insight and ultimately how to find my own voice.

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By: Reem

Sat, 14 May 2011 18:09:34 +0000

I think the students could be inspired by their teacher and vice versa 😉

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By: Marge

Sun, 08 May 2011 02:00:47 +0000

TEACHING art is amazing!!! If you are not confident enough to draw the best from students, you shouldn’t be teaching anyway. I love guiding kids and adults through techniques and tools. I love directing their thinking up to a point and then watching them attack the project. I love matching the lesson to their interests. I love bringing in history, geography, social studies, math, poetry and practical life skills. Artists who copy shouldn’t be teaching students to copy. There are so many ways to enter those creative explosions.

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By: Patricia C Vener

Sat, 07 May 2011 16:16:25 +0000

Given: An artist creates.
Given: An artist’s view/perspective/product is unique (else it’s not quite art but something else)
Given: No creation arises from nothing; there has to be some kind of foundation from which to launch inspiration.
Given: Appreciation comes from understanding.
Ergo, to teach one’s art form is to help others appreciate what one does, as well as help other artists further their own vision.
Traditionally, painters did copy their masters in order to learn technique. Then they went on to mold the technique into their own particular tool. In all art forms, technique is teachable but vision is personal.
I don’t often teach, but when I do I find the students gain that much better an appreciation for what I do.

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By: Brad Sears

Sat, 07 May 2011 14:18:46 +0000

While I hear peoples’ concerns, I find teaching and demonstrating – sharing my craft, if you will – invigorating! It gets me out of the house and studio/workshop to meet, interact and be inspired by others. In short: I love it! That I also get paid for it is icing on the cake (not to mention helps pay the bills!)
While I hear peoples’ concerns, I’m flattered if a student tries to copy my work. To me, it’s free publicity. You can always find copies – but what does that say about the original?
Moreover, I believe our greatest gift is what we pass on to the next generation – and that what we give away inevitably comes back to reward us. I know: that sounds a bit Biblical and I suppose it is, but in my 62 years on this orb, I’ve found it to be true.

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By: nike

Sat, 07 May 2011 08:54:11 +0000

To Artist Quoted: My art is comparable to yours, though not jewelry but another handicraft that I put to an artistic level. This is why I teach some skills (most basic ones, that is) and others not.
I do not agree with George’s point of view at all: at the time the old masters were living, zeitgeist was not that way that everyone strived self-fulfillment by developing their “inner artist” and then selling it on etsy. Not that I want to criticize that it is like that nowadays – but times were very different back then in Baroque, Renaissance era and alike. Way less people were living on the world, there was no etsy and artist’s material were not easily purchased just around the corner.
Your trade (resp. art), dear Artist Quoted, would have been highly protected by guilds and chambers back then, and only few people at a time would have been allowed to become taught at all by the masters of the trade.
With regard to newer “Old Masters” – what do we know about Picasso, Monet or Turner and them giving classes?
In my country, really renowned and established artist painters give so called “master classes” to which only a *few* students are admitted at a time, but only when they prove to be highly skilled and talented. It’s a matter of honour that these students do not copy their master.
So not giving away everything you know (and what you have worked hard for to gain it) on the level we (I suppose) are teaching simply is sound self protection.

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