Who influences your work?

Luann Udell made an interesting observation on her blog today titled 'Influence'.

She makes the point that 2-D artists will often declare that they work in the style of a well known artist. Craft workers seldom do this.

It made me wonder why this is so.

Could it be that more artists have had a formal arts education and have been exposed to thinking in depth about their work and have practiced analysing and talking or writing about it?

Or could it be that the art world is better developed, and is written about by art critics and art historians? This must give artists a strong incentive to declare their influences before the critics do so.

Perhaps if crafts publications paid as much attention to concepts and design as they do to technique, things might be different.