You Can Quote Me on That

There are several quotes I appreciate.  They're exactly the sort of thing I would scrawl out on large paper and tack to my studio wall for both inspiration to lofty purpose and for keeping my feet firmly planted on the ground.

Painting, n.: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather, and exposing them to the critic.       
Ambrose Bierce
(So much for lofty purposes...)


Painting is one thing but art is another. You can teach an elephant to paint, but you can't teach it to be an artist.
Warren Criswell  
(Touche to all you elephants out there who think you can paint just because someone ties a brush to your tail.  If you were a real artist, you'd tie your own brush to your own doggone tail.)

I've never really had a hobby, unless you count art, which the IRS once told me I had to declare as a hobby since I hadn't made money with it.
Laurie Anderson
('Nuff said!)

It takes two to paint. One to paint, the other to stand by with an axe to kill him before he spoils it. 
William Merritt Chase 
(Would this position be under the professional or blue collar listing in the want ads?)

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit.
John Updike
(I love this quote. Breathing room.  A space where spirit exists.)


The most common form of despair is not being who you are.
Soren Kierkegaard
(Frank Sinatra knew this when he belted out "I gotta be meeeeeee...)

Good art is not what it looks like, but what it does to us.
Roy Adzak
(This should be written on every wall in every art museum.)

These are my faves. What would you scrawl on your studio wall?