Talent may get someone off the starting blocks faster, but without a sense of direction or a goal to strive for, it won't count for much

There's generally no good reason why others should care about most of any one artist's work. The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars.

The seed of your next artwork lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece.

Artmaking involves skills that can be learned. . . In large measure becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself, which makes your work personal, and in following your own voice, which makes your work distinctive. . . Even talent is rarely distinguishable, over the long run, from perseverance and lots of hard work.

Even talent is rarely distinguishable, over the long run, from perseverance and lots of hard work.

Talent may get someone off the starting blocks faster, but without a sense of direction or a goal to strive for, it won't count for much

Look at your work and it tells you how it is when you hold back or when you embrace. When you are lazy, your art is lazy; when you hold back, it holds back; when you hesitate, it stands there staring, hands in its pockets. But when you commit, it comes on like blazes.