Martha Graham quote

I'm enjoying listening to BBC Radio 4's Book of The Week, which this week is Zadie Smith's Feel Free.

Zadie Smith reads from her latest essay collection where she offers sharp, and sometimes funny, insights and observations on high culture, pop culture, social change, political debate and the personal. Yesterday's edition featured some lessons on the connection between writing and dancing.

Smith mentioned a quote by Martha Graham which I think can apply to many creative people, not just dancers.

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b42z8c

Success

“Success is liking yourself,
liking what you do,
and liking how you do it.”

– Maya Angelou

as seen on http://www.swiss-miss.com

Don Draper on happiness

I am a strong believer that I make my best work when I am happy.

But what is happiness?

According to Don Draper

"Happiness is the smell of a new car. It's freedom from fear. It's a billboard on the side of the road that screams reassurance that whatever you are doing is okay. You are okay." 

On being challenged

“People don’t mind being challenged to do better if they know the request is coming from a caring heart.”
— Ken Blanchard

A thought about criticism

At the core of criticism, there should always be an intent to assist.

http://explorecreaterepeat.com/articles/purpose-of-criticism?utm_source=swissmiss&utm_campaign=26bfedff69-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2660ad4d17-26bfedff69-329261062

Some quotes on Painting

During the symposium yesterday, a number of quotes were mentioned that caught my attention

"I don't want to make pictures, I want to learn things" 
Piet Mondrian

"Every painting is an idea. 
Eveery painting is the result of a process. 
Concerptual art just removes the pleasure of looking  - colour and beauty and all that" 
Peter Doig

"Not knowing where one is going - being lost, being a loser, reveals the greatest possible faith and optimism" 
Gerhard Richter (1995) The Daily Practice of Painting

"Painting in many ways is a glorious illusion. The painter makes something magical, spatial and alive on a surface that is flat with materials that are inert" 
Helen Frankenthaler

Albert Einstein on learning

"...The way to learn the most is when you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don’t notice that the time passes."

François-René de Chateaubriand writes about the art of living

Over 100 years ago,French writer François-René de Chateaubriand wrote

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both."

Henry Matisse talks about cutting

‘a pair of scissors is a wonderful instrument. working with scissors in this paper is an occupation i can lose myself in….my pleasure in cutting things out grows ever greater. why didn’t I think of it earlier? more and more i feel that one can express with the simplest cut-outs what one might want to express as a draughtsman or painter. by entering into the object one comes into one’s own. i had to make this budgerigar with coloured paper. well, i have become a budgie! and in the wok i found myself. the chinese sage said that one must grow with the tree. i know nothing truer….. but i know that only much later will people realise how much what i do today was in accord with the future.’

henry matisse

http://www.thebowery.org/galleries.html

Curiosity

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.”
- Leo Burnett

Tracey Emin on drawing

"drawing is a solitary act; it's your own line, your own imagination, your own rhythm, your own blood flow and vision"

TRACEY EMIN