Snobbery, Secrets, and more strawberries

I just read a wonderful blog post about "secrets" of the masters, and the idea that hoarding of knowledge in art and technique is unnecessary.....click here to read..the author says it so much better than I..... http://artbabel.blogspot.com/2011/03/secrets-of-old-masters.html

Articles such as this are refreshing to read and further my own beliefs about art and sharing. I've never believed that one should hoard their skill or knowledge, least of all a teacher....Artists that covet such things truly must be insecure in their own abilities and self as an artist. I remember an art show where I was displaying some of my fused glass....another vendor came by and asked me how I had achieved a certain affect on one of my pieces. I proceeded to share how I had done so, much to the chagrin and even anger of my business partner at the time. She stewed the rest of the day, treating the woman rudely whenever she came by to speak to me...telling me I should not share my techniques lest the woman "steal" them...I remember being terribly embarrassed, and upset because after all, it was my "secret" to share....I consider my art as my legacy, and the more I create and learn, the more I am able to share. It is all I will leave behind when I leave the land of the living. I have found many other artists and blogs that have the same unselfish philosophy, and I learn the most from them. While I am new to "daily" painting and immersing myself in the art world, I am by no means new to art and it's snobbery. In fact, I distanced myself from painting for a long time, regrettably, for just that reason....I could not tolerate the "judgement" of certain shows and events with a jury of so called professionals who decide what is art, or more precisely, what constitutes "good art".....These are the same type of so called professionals that decided that Marcel Duchamp's urinal was art, or Warhol's campbell soup label was revolutionary. I'm not arguing that they are not artists, rather that they ARE artists, and judgement should not necessarily be left to the jury alone. I love the online community of artists I am stumbling across daily, mostly on facebook, but in blogs and searches as well. I feel humbled to be able to read the daily musings of artists that are beyond my experience and ability in the so called world of art. Hats off the the artists who share, and play nice in the sandbox. Let me never be accused of being so successful in art or life that I cannot give back what was given to me in the first place.