I’m having an issue with my photography teacher. She wanted us to tell her five artists whose work we find inspiring. She meant photographers. I thought she meant artists. Maybe it’s because I’m a multi-media artist, but I find one medium can translate to another medium. I draw from an assortment of artists working in an assortment of media. Maybe the problem is the teacher is a grad student and I have a single lens reflex Canon that’s older than anyone else in the room. I’ve had some very good teachers who were grad students. But…. This week, the teacher declared Annie Leibowitz a fashion photographer. I had no idea Rolling Stone magazine had a fashion section. One student referred to Georgia O’Keeffe as “maybe an artist, I think.”

Anyway…. If you look at art nouveau ceramics, there’s clearly an influence by painters. Art Deco brought together and influenced a multitude of media.

What if you asked your students to tell you artists they admire and give them the opportunity to explore how one medium can translate into another medium????

Deb Thuman
debthuman@zianet.com

www.DebThumanArt.com
https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

Look, it's my misery that I have to paint
this kind of painting, it's your misery that
you have to love it, and the price of the
misery is thirteen hundred and fifty dollars.
Mark Rothko