“And who are you to think you could get through life without pain? Did you expect never to be ashamed of yourself? Of course that hurts you. And it will go on hurting. You needn’t believe much what they say about time healing. I’ve had seventy years and more of time and there are plenty of things in my life still won’t bear thinking of. You’ve just got to get along as best you can with all your shames and sorrows and humiliations. Maybe in the end it’s those things are most use to you.”

“In those moments when you feel discouraged or lost in the studio, or when you experience rejection, rest completely assured that what you don’t know about something is also a form of knowledge, though much harder to understand. In many ways, making art is like blindly trying to see the shape of what you don’t yet know. Whenever you catch a little a glimpse of that blind spot, of your ignorance, of your vulnerability, of that unknown, don’t be afraid or embarrassed to stare at it. Instead, try to relish in its profound mystery. Art is about taking the risk of engaging in something somewhat ridiculous and irrational simply because you need to get a closer look at it, you simply need to break it open to see what’s inside.”

“Being an artist is not just about what happens when you are in the studio. The way you live, the people you choose to love and the way you love them, the way you vote, the words that come out of your mouth… will also become the raw material for the art you make.”

“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant – there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.”

Here is the fruit for the crows to pluck – For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck – For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop – Here is a strange and bitter crop

“Hope is not a form of guarantee; its a form of energy, and very frequently that energy is strongest is circumstances that are very dark.”

“To us art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those wiling to take a risk.”

“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to be logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your own most intense obsessions mercilessly.”

I don’t know what I knew before.

(from ‘I Feel it All’)