Originally Posted by TanyaL

My point was that in my art school we were taught to learn on oils that were popular priced, popular brands, student quality - hand ground pigments, hand mixed being about 4 times that cost and at our skill level you could not tell the difference in the oil paint. When you can charge $30,000 and up for a portrait you can tell the difference in the quality of paint because of the skill in using it. A student doesn't need a $40 brush when a $10-15 brush will work fine. A $5 brush is disposable after a few weeks. A pre-stretched cotton canvas bought at Hobby Lobby will work for a student. A professional needs linen canvas stretched on hard wood, custom stretched. Both cotton and linen are stretched with the same tools. A studio easel can be purchased for $100 or $1000. Usually a student doesn't invest in the higher priced easel. An artist has special lights to control the color spectrum in his studio, etc.

In quilting, some of us tell a beginner to buy the best sewing machine they can afford, some say just get a good one that sews dependably. Some of us tell a beginner that you can buy fabric at yard sales, use cotton clothes, etc. or purchase at the chain stores like Walmart or Joann's. Other's want to buy only the best that the LQS sell. My point was we didn't give consistent professional advice like other art professions did. I equated fabric arts with painting, sculpture, silversmithing, etc. That was my mistake. Obviously, most of the women equate quilting with a hobby - not with what they do, but with what they are, what they deserve in equipment, what they can afford in equipment. They compare their equipment to their husband's fishing equipment, not the tools of a painter or a silversmith. Therefore, they don't judge their output against other artists, but against their personal satisfaction. I was wrong in my assumptions and my questions turned out to be spurious.