Untitled, chromogenic print, 24″ x 24,” edition of 5

* an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.

A person is not an artist until he works at his art, no matter how eloquently he speaks during the cocktail hour or how fine are the images that come to his mind.  As David Salle, the visual artist, put it, “It’s easy to be an artist in your head.”  We, as artists, know this.  We realize that often we are not able to translate our vision into splendid art.  Even the finest artists write books that are not great, paint pictures that are not great, compose pieces that are not great, involve themselves in projects that are not great.  But artists can only try – and must try.

When you love what you are doing, know what you are doing, and do it, a confidence is bred in you that is the best stretcher of limits.  Then you can say, as the visual artist June Wayne said, “Now when I start something, I expect to carry it off.”

Eric Maisel, A Life in the Arts

Comments are welcome!