ARTIST'S WORDS - ART & LIFE

General

“I grew up believing that art and beauty were synonymous. Eventually I came to a point whereby truth, well-presented, became beauty – and that was art.” [1982]

“Georges Braque once said to me that he learned to make the most of his limitations by working everyday.” He didn't say, however, how he decided what his limitations were.” [1969]

“If playing it safe means success and taking chances spells failure then I want to fail.” [1969]

“Each creative act becomes a new adventure of discovery.” [1960]

“Picasso said ‘Art is a lie!' In his flamboyant way he spoke a great truth. He was saying that all art is an illusion – not the slavish copying of reality – but the CREATION of illusions never seen before.” [1990]

“Somewhere is a point where Nature becomes Philosophy, where Divinity crosses Humanity, and all living things unite in common understanding.”

“Some artists I've known feel it important to channel most everything through one funnel.  Fine!  Others do not and will not.   . . . there are moments of inspiration or elation or insight in my life which are not graphic or three-dimensional.  Often they are literary.  If they can so be expressed - and well - they are valid.  So, who really is eclectic.  Is it a qualitative determination?”

“...it was the walls that spoke to me.  They seemed to be endlessly transparent, containing a written history that no graffiti could match.  I stopped in a little plaza - to see the back of a huge old wall, against which a smaller, newer house had been built.  A yellow, blue and white tile read 'No. 1'.  What a logical beginning...” [1975]

Nature, landscapes, other descriptive notes

“In the Rockies and the Sangre de Cristos the awesome size and splendor of its canyons made we wary. It was too tempting to capture every nuance, all at the expense of power, austerity and movement.

So gradually, I discarded all but the essence of the place.” [1990]

“ . . . those mysterious and powerful elements of land and sea and sky in their infinite variety have been, and will continue to be, among my greatest sources of inspiration.” [1975]