Barbara’s studio

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

“Do you understand what this is?  Jacob Kahn asked me, his strong voice rising.  “Do you begin to understand what you are going to be doing to yourself?  You understand now what Picasso did, yes?  Even Picasso, the pagan, had to do this.  At times there is no other way.  Do you understand me, Asher Lev?  This is not a toy.  This is not a child scrawling on a wall.  This is a tradition; it is a religion, Asher Lev.  You are entering a religion called painting.  It has its fanatics and rebels.  And I will force you to master it.  Do you hear me?  No one will listen to what you have to say unless they are convinced you have mastered it.  Only one who has mastered a tradition has a right to attempt to add to it or rebel against it.  Do you understand me, Asher Lev?”

My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

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