Chapter Seventy Three: Paint

Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I

wonder how all those who do not write,

compose,or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear

which is inherent in a human situation.

Graham Greene

vVv

You see a child play, and it is so close to seeing

an artist paint, for in play a child says things

without uttering a word. You can see how he

solves his problems. You can also see

what's wrong. Young children, especially, have

enormous creativity, and whatever's in them

rises to the surface in fair play.

Erik Erikson

vVv

In art, there is no need for color,

I see only light and shade.

Give me a crayon,

and I will paint your portrait.

Francisco Goya

vVv

The painter should paint not only what he

has in front of him, but also what he sees

inside himself.

Casper David Friedrich

vVv

To be an artist, you don't have to compose

a music or paint or be in the movies or

write books. It's just a way of living.

It has to do with paying attention,

remembering, filtering what you see

and answering back, participating in life.

Viggo Mortensen

vVv

At Cornell University, my professor of

European literature, Vladimir Nobokov,

changed the way I read and the way I write.

Words could paint pictures. I learned from him.

Choosing the right word, and the right

word order, he illustrated, could make an

enormous difference in conveying

an image or an idea.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

vVv

Try to forget what objects you have before you

-- a tree, a house, a field, or whatever.

Merely think, "Here is a little square of blue,

here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow,"

and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact

color and shape, until it gives you your own

impression of the scene before you.

Claude Monet

vVv

Very few people possess true artistic ability.

It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive

to irritate the situation by making an effort.

If you have a burning, restless urge to write

or paint, simply eat something sweet

and the feeling will pass.

Fran Lebowitz

vVv

A writer should write with his eyes

and a painter should paint with his ears.

Gertrude Stein

vVv

The ability to have somebody read something

and see it, or for somebody to paint an entire

landscape with words -- that's magical.

That's what I've been trying to strive for --

to draw a clear picture,

to open up a new dimension.

Mos Def

vVv

We write for the same reason that we walk,

talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans --

because we can. We have some impulse

within us that makes us want to explain

ourselves to other human beings.

That's why we paint, that's why we dare

to love someone -- because we have the impulse

to explain who we are.

Maya Angelou

vVv

All art is exorcism.

I paint dreams and visions, too, the dreams

and visions of my time. Painting is the effort

to produce order, order in yourself.

There is much chaos in me,

much chaos in our time.

Otto Dix

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