Misc Quotes relating to art

"It is not the eye, it is the mind which the painter of genius wishes to address; nor will he waste a moment upon those smaller objects which only serve to catch the sense, to divide the attention, and to counteract his great design of speaking to the heart". Joshua Reynolds

"Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it." Goethe

"Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no-one to blame" Erica Jong

"The centre that I cannot find, is known to my unconscious mind" W H Auden

"A picture lives by companionship, expanding and quickening in the eyes of the sensitive observer. It dies by the same token" Mark Rothko

Image: Gabrielle Jones, "Plumbago" 2008, 110 x 83 Oil on Canvas

Inspiring Quotes: Knowing I am not alone

I have collected some quotes which closely relate to what it is that I am doing instinctively - the why and the how and the where.

"It was always a kind of escape to make these paintings in the studio, because what was outside the door was so different, really. The work became a different world...that was the excitement in a way-trying to find this other place in my studio, in my head". Peter Doig, British Painter, painting landscapes in urban London.

"Distance is required to enable a relationship...between found and recollected image and imaginitively transformed image.....the search for a distance to approach a subject that would otherwise be too close...Equally, the slippage between what is real, remembered or imagined creates fertile territory for the artist". Judith Nesbitt, A Suitable Distance, (about Peter Doig)

I try to eliminate other influences also for example and just focus on my way of working. We all start out with influences but the idea is to discover yourself, and find one’s own expression and in doing so it becomes a process of elimination to some extent, not obliterating the influences but discovering your own voice...Looking at the big yellow sculpture in the park there (Rock Forms Synthesis), it appears to be derived from the landscape and yet it is its own hybrid thing. It has all the sculptural elements implying the landscape without it being representational. Paul Selwood, Sculptor

[Art] is about the act of painting. Sometimes it is hard to see what you are doing while you are doing it. While you are involved in the process... it tends to be more subjective, active and subjective, but of course when you get some distance from it, you tend to be more objective, not absolutely, but more objective and reflective. Sometimes you feel like you are seeing it in a new way, so there is always the possibility of seeing something afresh. John Peart, Painter

There is no easy road to authenticity. It is a matter of slogging away in the studio, producing and reworking ideas until that sublime epiphany arrives.

Harvey Shields, Serious Art.org

Sound Familiar? Do you relate to these quotes? Post your comments here

More Inspiring Quotes-From non visual artists

I love collecting these ...I need to collect these to keep me going and to tell me I'm on the right track. Most of the author's quotes come from a book I am reading called "How I write: the secret lives of Authors" Dan Crow, ed.

So I thought I'd share what I have come across in my reading...

"Remembering I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart". Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple (diagnosed with a terminal illness)

"We mostly yearn for the same things: a bit of stillness, a reminder of whatever it is that goes through kid's heads when they beam at you for no reason and a chance to tentatively step off the conveyor belt...just to see what happens next". Sarah Wilson, TV Personality.

"The poetry is the not quite calculable thing that has to grow and bind and transform the picture once it's done". Alan Hollinghurst, Author.

"Any writer who knows what he's doing isn't doing very much". Nelson Algren, US, Author.

"The furthermost out you can go is the best place to be". Stanley Elkin, Author.

"Go out as far as you can go, and start from there". Albert Einstein, Physicist

"Armed with all the imagination and wit and heart you can muster, you follow the "charmer's" pipes into the dark forest, naively confident that, sooner or later, should you survive, you'll be led to those places where treasure is buried. To do it differently, to begin with a carefully calculated outline, for example, is to become little more than a manufacturer". Tom Robbins, Author.

"When you're inside writer's block it's horrible because you're not you anymore. You're this person who used to be you. Now you're this person who's going to have to get a day job". (GJ: Sound Familiar?) Douglas, Copeland, Author.

"For me, to write anything worth reading I can't be in control. My conscious mind, the part that cares what critics might hate or readers might like, has to get out of the way for me to get anything done. My subconscious does all the heavy lifting..." Melissa Bank, Author.

"You have to concede that when a novel clicks...some alchemy has been achieved of which you are not entirely master". Lionel Shriver, Author.

"Believe you can, believe you can't. Either way, you're right" Rob Palmer, British explorer.

And last but not least, note to self: Stop trying... it's exhausting. Just keep doing.

Image: Gabrielle Jones Rockface 2008, 110 x 83cm

Do you have anymore inspiring Quotes? Add them here in the comments section