is an artist.  The difference is broadly significant.  The artisan, in his work, follows directions, plans, specifications, and blue-prints that have been devised and designed by others; the artist imbues his work with imagination.  The artisan works by the day—­so much money for so many hours’ work with pay day as his large objective; the artist does not disdain pay day, but he has an objective beyond this and has other sources of pleasure besides the pay envelope.  The artisan thinks and talks of pay day; the artist thinks and talks of his work.  The artisan drops his work when the bell rings; the artist is so engrossed in his work that he does not hear the bell.  The artisan plods at his task with a grudging mien; the artist works in a fine frenzy.

=Characteristic qualities.=—­It is not easy to find the exact words by which to differentiate the traditional teacher from the artist teacher.  There is an elusive quality in the artist teacher which is not easily reduced to or described by formal words.  We know that the one is an artist teacher and that the other is not.  The formal examination may not be able to discover the artist teacher, but there is a sort of knowledge that transcends the findings of an examination, that makes her identity known.  She is a real flesh and blood person and yet she has a distinctive quality that cannot be mistaken even though it eludes description.  She exhales a certain exquisiteness that reveals itself in the delicacy and daintiness of her contact with people and the objective world.  Her impact upon the consciousness is no more violent than the fragrance of the rose, but, all at once, she is there and there to stay, modest, serene, and masterful.

She is as gentle as the dawn but as staunch as the oak.  She has knowledge and wisdom, and, better still, she has understanding; she needs no diagram.  Her gaze penetrates the very heart of a situation but is never less than kindly, and her eyes are never shifty.  Her aplomb, her pose, and her poise belong to her quite as evidently as her hands.  She is genuine and altogether free from affectation.  Her presence stimulates without intoxicating, and she accepts the respect of people with the same naturalness and grace as would accompany her acceptance of a glass of water.  Both the giver and the recipient of this respect are ennobled by the giving.  Indeed she would far rather have the respect of people, her pupils included, than mere admiration, for she knows full well that respect is far more deeply rooted in the spirit and bears fruit that is more worth while.  Her nature knows not inertia, but it abounds in enterprise, endeavor, and courage that are born of a high purpose.