Inspirational Quotes

 

• It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know. -Henry David Thoreau

• Painting is a language which cannot be replaced by another language.
I don’t know what to say about what I paint, really. - Balthus

• I am unable to make any distinction between the feeling I get
from life and the way I translate that feeling into painting. - Henri Matisse

• Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary
to understand, but it is simply necessary to love. - Claude Monet

• Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know
how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for
colors, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential. - Wassily Kandinsky

 

• Art is the glorification of the human spirit.

• Creative expression is the spiritual translation of inner concepts into forms

• Art is the agent destined to counterbalance the burdensomeness of everyday life.

• Painters speak through paint, not words.

- Hans Hoffman



• There is no must in art because art is free. - Kandinsky

• Creativity takes courage. - Henri Matisse

• The only time I feel alive is when I’m painting. - Vincent van Gogh

• The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. - Francis Bacon

• I feel the need of attaining the maximum of intensity with the minimum of means. - Joan Miro

 

• Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

• Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

• A painter can transform the sun into a yellow spot. An artist transforms a yellow spot into the sun.

- Pablo Picasso

 

• Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry moving through. And be silent. - Maulana Rumi

• Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.
Imagination encircles the world. - Albert Einstein

• Truth is above all, but higher still is true living. - Kirpal Singh

• The greatest majority of artists are throwing themselves in with life-preservers around their necks, and more often than not it is the life preserver which sinks them. - Henry Miller

• Your duty is to be; and not to be this or that. - Ramana Marashi

 

• The transformation that occurs when we engage the creative challenge is nothing short of miraculous.

• Being complete with a painting is being complete with yourself, and that’s both an ending and a beginning.

• In art, to look within is an act of courage.

• To be present requires letting go of judgment.

• A basic principal of the painting process work is that our inner experience is our connection to the sacred. Our direct experience is the only thing that’s real.

• The artist’s task is to be released from the pressure of performance, interpretation, comparison and judgment.

• The deepest essence of creativity is simply being ourselves.

• True painting is very simple, yet at the same time radical. By nature it’s unpredictable, because we don’t plan our destination ahead of time.

• The opportunity that the painting offers is to let down the barriers we’ve erected around our own deep listening, and to experience being at home with ourselves in the very moment of creation.

• The paintings, at a certain point, jump off the page, showing us the way to a more courageous and meaningful participation in the world.

- Stewart Cubley

 

The essence of abstract art is:

• To unfold the spirit of self-exploration by painting freely without restraint or criticism.

• To develop a deeper trust in one's intuition and instinct as they happen.

• To realize that letting go of set goals opens up a whole world of infinite possibilities.

- Jonas Gerard

 

 

jonas@jonasgerard.com

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Jonas Gerard © 2007