One of the blessings for which I am most grateful is the opportunity to have studied art with Burlington, NC artist and teacher Clara Zimmerman Clayton. Wednesday afternoons lessons at her studio were the highlight of my life from when I was in the 5th grade through high school graduation. I learned skills from Clara that I still use everyday in my work, even decades later. There was one particular lesson I learned from Clara from which everyone could benefit, regardless of their artistic or creative skills: respect for others' work.

While most of her classes blend together into a happy memory, one stands out above the rest. During one of my first classes with her she asked me to draw a simple white vase sitting on a tabletop in pencil. Some time after I started drawing, she came by to observe my efforts and to suggest some improvements. There was something she wanted to demonstrate on my drawing. But rather than drawing directly on my own drawing herself, she first asked if I would mind her showing me what she meant. Then she put a piece of onionskin tracing paper over my drawing and then drew her suggested correction on the onionskin.

During the seven years that I studied with Clara, I never saw her touch a student's artwork. No matter how inept our efforts, she treated each of us as if we were budding Picassos. If everyone had learned respect for others' creative work from Clara, we would no longer need copyright laws. It would never occur to any of us to copy someone else's work and use it as if it were own. 

Suzanne Stephens, Point2Agent Design Partner