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

Making art now means working in the face of uncertainty; it means living with doubt and contradiction, doing something no one much cares whether you do, and for which there may be neither an audience nor reward. Making the work you want to make means setting aside these doubts so that you may see clearly what you have done, and thereby see where to go next. Making the work you want to make means finding nourishment within the work itself.

The difference between art and craft lies not in the tools you hold in your hands, but in the mental set that guides them. For the artisan, craft is an end in itself. For you, the artist, craft is the vehicle for expressing your vision. Craft is the visible edge of art.

You make good work by (among other things) making lots of work that isn't very good, and gradually weeding out the parts that aren't good, the parts that aren't yours. It's called feedback, and it's the most direct route to learning about your own vision. It's also called doing your work. After all, someone has to do your work, and you're the closest person around.

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

Something about making art has to do with overcoming things, giving us a clear opportunity for doing things in ways we have always known we should do them.

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