When setting out on a journey do not seek advice from someone who never left home
You cannot possibly invent painting all by yourself.
Draw your pleasure, paint your pleasure, and express your pleasure strongly.
I am just beginning to understand what it is to paint. A painter should have two lives, one in which to learn, and one in which to practice his art.
The precision of naming takes away from the uniqueness of seeing.
What attracted me was less art itself than the artist’s life and all that it meant for me: the idea of creativity and freedom of expression and action. I had been attracted to painting and drawing for a long time, but it was not an irresistible passion; what I wanted, at all costs, was to escape the monotony of life.
Painting has to get back to its original goal, examining the inner lives of human beings.
That’s the big challenge of life—to chisel disappointment into wisdom so people respect you and you don’t annoy your friends with your whining.
The attempt to minimize cost and maximize profits often interfered with our true mission in Iraq. We should have been working to get jobs for Iraqis, but the contractors found it cheaper to import Nepalese and others. This increased resentment, contributed to unemployment, and to our losing the hearts and minds of the Iraqis.
I am closer to a European viewpoint of the world than an American one. My ethics and ideals are based on European concepts.
I wanted to do something creatively, having been a beached whale for many months and nursing my daughter.