When you look at a work of art, you don't see a cover for something else; you see revelation. If you're an artist, art is the truest expression of yourself. Even if you're painting a life you don't have.

Art never lies, I believe.

Most artists probably feel lonely or set apart in childhood. But they grow up and find people who share their interests.

When you feel your book is the height of irrelevance you can return to the excitement of the daily news.

If I were writing about Picasso and pointed out that he painted women because he was interested in the female form, that would seem like an obvious point. I don't know why people revolt when I point out that Rockwell painted the male figure and was interested in it.

The pleasure that attaches to the artistic life comes in imagining what we might do as opposed to acknowledging what we have done.

You have to be willing to recognize failure.