Are We Not Allowed to Share What We Learn?

Years ago, when I was just starting to learn watercolour, I attended many classes around my city. One of them was a workshop about birch trees and negative painting. I really enjoyed the class, and the instructor was a sweet lady. I learned a lot from her and eventually started following her on Facebook.

Not long after, two friends came all the way from Chile to visit me in Canada. They stayed at my house for two nights while travelling across the country. Their goal was to make it all the way to the Yukon to see the Northern Lights.

One of those evenings, it was simply too cold to go outside. It was the middle of February, and staying indoors seemed like the best plan. I suggested a watercolour-and-wine night, and they happily agreed.

Neither of them had any experience with watercolour, so I decided to show them something I had recently learned: birch trees and negative painting.

To be honest, the evening involved far more laughter and wine than serious painting. We painted, talked, laughed, and enjoyed spending time together. My friends had absolutely no intention of becoming artists or pursuing any kind of art career. They were simply having fun.

I took a few photos and posted them on Facebook with the caption, “My first students.”

The next day, they continued their journey north in search of the Northern Lights.

A few months later, I registered for another workshop with the same instructor. I was excited to learn from her again and looked forward to spending the day painting.

As soon as I arrived, she said, “I saw your post on Facebook. You know that’s my bread and butter. You can’t teach that.”

I was completely caught off guard. I apologized and explained that I had never intended to take business away from her. They weren’t students. They were simply friends spending an evening together, and of course I hadn’t been paid.

The comment stayed with me for the rest of the class. I couldn’t enjoy the workshop the way I had hoped. When I got home, I quietly removed her from my Facebook friends list.

I also never attended any of her classes again. Not because of the technique she taught, but because the interaction changed the way I saw her. The experience left me disappointed and took away some of the admiration I had felt for her as a teacher.

That experience also reinforced something I strongly believe: artists are not in competition with one another. There is room for all of us. Every artist brings a different voice, different experiences, and a different perspective to the same subject. Sharing a technique, an idea, or a bit of knowledge does not diminish its value. In fact, it often does the opposite. Art grows through community, generosity, and the willingness to encourage others. Some of the things I know today were shared freely by artists before me, and I hope that anything I learn can inspire someone else in return.

Looking back, I still remember that winter evening far more fondly than the workshop. What stays with me is not the technique itself, but the joy of sharing something I had just learned with people I cared about. It was one of those simple moments that became a lasting memory.

I can also understand her perspective. Teaching was her business, and perhaps she felt protective of the techniques she was known for. But it left me wondering: are we not allowed to share what we learn with others?

The birch trees and negative painting techniques she taught were not inventions unique to her. Artists have been using them for years, and today thousands of artists share similar lessons freely online through YouTube and other platforms.

For me, art has always been about learning, growing, and sharing. Every technique I know came from someone else at some point. If we all kept what we learned to ourselves, art would not evolve, communities would not form, and many of us would never have discovered the joy of painting in the first place.

That is also why my Substack will always be free. Sharing what I learn, my experiences, and my love of watercolour with others is one of the main reasons I write here.

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