The Resource of Art Quotations on our site is the largest of its kind. It's a source of inspiration and motivation for a world of artists, students and art educators. It's also a dynamic, evolving resource. Practically every day our volunteers are finding and putting in new quotes. Lately we've been looking at the writing of those who contribute to these twice-weekly clickbacks. To see if you've been included just type your name--or any name for that matter--into the box below. Press "author search" and thank you for being so quotable.

Movement of the observer

Regarding "decisive moment" in still life painting, my experience is, as in your lazy

Still Life with Cell Phone sepia, black & white chalk on tan paper work in progress  click image to enlarge

Susan example, it's my own movement that seems to determine the composition. In fact, I can't set up a still life at all. I have to be taken unawares by the objects, ambushed by them, and any attempted "improvement" of them invariably fails. It takes on the same sort of artificiality for me as Cartier-Bresson must have felt about tricky developing. There's a window of opportunity in still-life painting--especially the kind I do, of stuff found around the house. Boxes get moved, bananas rot or get eaten, etc.—you have to work fast. But the window I'm talking about is much smaller than that, and it opens and closes as fast as a camera's shutter. The "momentary visual delights of life in motion" in this case is the movement of the observer, me, the accidental movement of my line of vision, encountering some ordinary group of objects in a certain light. It's usually the light that does it, I think. It's this rare and somehow profound moment of time that I like to think I'm recording. And for me it's a fleeting moment: If I don't do a drawing immediately, if only a brief sketch, it's gone. So, as Cartier-Bresson used his camera as a sketchbook, I guess I use a sketchbook as a camera.

Speedy focus for decisive moment

As a painter I've often experienced the decisive moment. To me it is not about

Hay Original painting  click image to enlarge

finding the best view. It is somewhere in the actual painting process where critical decisions must be made. In that decisive moment, the painting will be extraordinary or ho hum depending on those decisions in the painting process. I have seen other plein air painters who will take considerable time to find just the right spot to paint before settling down to work and others who are painting in less than two minutes of arrival. Often, it is the painter who sets up immediately who does the best work. They are able to focus immediately and make good choices in decisive moments.

Don't wait for perfect conditions

What we must remember when making a photograph is that the viewer will likely not

The hermit's cabin Oil on panel  click image to enlarge

have the benefit of our breezes, fragrances, sounds, temperature or the heat of the sun on their face. In short a photo must make the viewer feel all the senses with one. Art is the residue of thought - it does not happen by accident or without effort. Let it flow without evaluating it. After you have something before you, only then select what thrills you. This is your mirror. Do not be concerned with what you cannot do, rather know what you can do and do that like Hercules! If you wait for perfect conditions you will never start anything.

Media stops time

A captured image, whether photograph or painting, channels you to a specific moment of time and emotion. Just the act of flipping through old photos or gazing at a particular painting will put you back to your childhood, a summer vacation or a quiet get together. Photography and painting are tangible processes for holding on to our treasured times of life. Life is fleeting, but with these media, we can stop time in its tracks. And if even for a second, we can take another look. Specific events in our lives drive us to recreate our experiences through imagery. The permanency of these media allows us to reflect on the moment and ourselves. Photographs and paintings are mirrors of many heartfelt memories.

The eternal lover

Henri Cartier-Bresson's quote translated to this: Painting is a way of communicating, of liberating oneself, not a place for the ego to prove itself, but for the Self to be discovered. Painting is a way of life. I also like the balance of his quote, "One eye looks within, the other eye looks without." I am always a gatherer, an observer of my world and experiences, and at the same time when I work painting I allow the inner states of my being the free reign of putting it all together as it chooses. It is connecting the outer and the inner with the mystery of the unknown or unknowable, that reveals the visual statement with awe. Cartier-Bresson's work has that presence that is poignant, beautiful and deliciously fresh. It reveals a wisdom and ability for presenting those moments in time when we lose our small self to an expansive depth of union. Looking at his work I am immediately drawn in and at home with those moments in life that sweep me away. They evoke the eternal lover who is the artist.

Promiscuous muse

I have a promiscuous muse. My muse wants to at least dance with everyone--like a

untitled 3 pieces oil, triaxial weaving, dye painted wool and traditional rug hooking, wool  click image to enlarge

John Paul Jones where switching partners is the standard. And sometimes, she wants to go on a second date - or go straight to the nakedness. That is to say, my muse wants to own every color, work in many media, and in numerous genre. Sometimes just a flirtatious look is enough (I'll read about etching, for instance). Sometimes there is hip grinding involved, and telltale stains in the studio afterward. Even if a fling is short lived, you get a juicier, more worldly muse afterward. In the craft world, this is frowned upon - one is regarded as having a lack of focus. The art world seems to better embrace a person who makes some sculpture, paints, draws - it's all considered part of the great dance. So, if your mojo is missing, are you squeezing your knees together? Are you telling yourself you must stick to one partner? Are you declining invitations to the dance? Dally with a few new partners - at worst they'll make your old familiar partner(s) look good.

Chess moves for art training

These days I'm working with digital photography in combination with traditional

toldeo giclee

tools. I rebuild old work into new work, but I used to practice "paint by seeing paint" for at least one year--just painting for the paint. I also played a lot of chess during that period. In chess you learn that in all your potential moves there is just one move that ends up ruling your game. As you can't go back, this is excellent training.

Studio toys

I have toys in my studio and when I need a break I put on some dance music and

Household Maidens Collage on paper  click image to enlarge

tap, or fling a yo-yo a few times or beat on a bongo or table top, anything to break the spell of "I can't do it." Yes, it's fun as well as therapeutic. And, then there are the times when I pray for perseverance and skill to finish and focus so I can meet a deadline.

Watch your mouth

Self talk is destructive to art, as I understand it. In the making of art we are channeling energy from a source to a visual. Talking, even to self, redirects the energy channel to a less pure interpretation. Over time, experience will think you through the technicalities, the language will surface not as a language but a translation, a message.

Turn them both upside down

A useful idea is to turn both your reference (generally a photo) and your painting

HH "Slim" Hill circa 1920 Acrylic on canvas, 28 x 16 inches  click image to enlarge

upside down and check to see that you have your shapes right, and your lights and darks right, and your colors right. What happens is that turning the painting upside down, tricks your eye and allows you to see what is really in the photo almost like an abstract. You can also double check your "negative" spaces. Those are the spaces between the other things you are painting, like between the horse's legs or between the arm of the cowboy and the horse's neck etc. Use that entire triangular area as a shape, and see where it might be off in the painting. Check the length of one against the length of the other. Our mind likes to paint what it thinks our eye sees, but so many times we are fooled.

Building connections

When I was a young designer, I was frequently daunted by the belief that all my ideas had to be totally new and never been done before. It took me a while to understand that synthesis is the way most innovation happens in nature. It's perfectly legitimate to build on the good ideas of others, particularly when you're still exploring the territory. That's the great thing about web-thinking. It takes your current ideas and builds new connections.

Wanted: Students with spark

I'm a textile Artist. My degree is in Embroidery. I have been a teacher for 20 years. Art schools in England expect to be shown prospective students' potential. They want students to possess this spark so that they can help the student to realize their ideas through the thinking process that the colleges generate. They need this spark to light a fire under the process that they use to develop their students. All their education can never make up for the lack of it.

Sharing, not preaching

I find that I greatly benefit from reading about the methods and thoughts of other artists - those are the letters of the type "this is how I do it, and here's a sample of my work". Wonderful - this is a unique opportunity to learn from many artists. The other type of letter, such as: "the artists must/must not/ do, whatever, or they will always create good/bad art", are not only of no use to me, but also don't reflect well on the authors. In my opinion, the difference is in sharing versus preaching. Sharing works for me. However, I don't have a problem with some preaching by the proved geniuses of the past--your Resource of Art Quotations is a great resource for that.

Odd request dept.

I wonder if you can help me. My husband and I have been given a picture as a wedding present of a kangaroo in shorts and a hat and the name in the top right corner says "Splodge." To be honest we are currently going through a divorce and we wondered if the picture was actually worth anything. It was sent over to us from Australia and so far having no luck. I know it's a shot in the dark, but I wonder if you could point me in the right direction.

(RG note ) These days it seems more and more we're getting odd requests for information. So much so that I often think some people are putting us on. These I generally refer to Andrew to answer directly. In this case I felt I had to respond because Lucey and her divorcing husband are in luck. Norman L. Splodge (1942-1985) was one of the best known of the Australian "Kangaroo in Shorts" genre. Known for actually boxing with the giant marsupials he gained popularity on the show circuit along with Crocodile Dundee. On losing his touch at contact sports he took up painting where his celebrity status propelled his prices. Of particular value are the ones where he shows Joey sticking out of the pouch (just above the shorts). If Joey is wearing shorts too (particularly boxing shorts) you can add a premium. I suggest you phone Sothebys soon. Unfortunately Splodge died relatively young while attempting to make a comeback in the ring. He should have stuck to art.

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