A few artisan tools

What’s the Difference Between an Artist, an Artiste, and an Artisan?

Uriél Dana
2 min readFeb 18, 2017

--

Someone asked me recently what the difference was between an artist, an artiste, and an artisan. It made me wonder how many people may or not know what the difference is? Here is the Dick and Jane version:

An artist paints, draws, sculpts, makes a film or is skilled with something involving perception and the use of their hands. Because writing used to be done by longhand, writers and poets are also known as artists.

An artiste is a professional entertainer, especially a singer or dancer: cabaret artistes.

An artisan is a skilled worker that uses his hands to make something often functional or that will enhance something else; furniture, gold leafing, decorative arts (like faux finishes), jewelers, upholstery, embroidery, glassblowers, leather workers (like shoemakers), potters, weavers.

Bakers are also included and pushing the limits of the term are cheesemakers and beer makers.

For a daily enchantment of beauty, mystery and sensuality, I curate a contemporary figurative artists feed on Twitter.com/Uridev

To read more articles on the art world, the art biz, & my experience as a fine artist, please subscribe to my articles on Medium or visit urieldana.com. I realized the world needed me when I heard a reference to the “WTF School of Art”.

Originally published at www.urieldana.com on February 18, 2017.

--

--

Uriél Dana

Professional Fine Artist (35 years), former Arts Ambassador, US State Dept. Contributing Editor, Film Director. Four decade practitioner of Tibetan Dream Yoga.