David Bayles Quotes
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
The seed of your next artwork lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece.
Even talent is rarely distinguishable, over the long run, from perseverance and lots of hard work.
To the artist, all problems of art appear uniquely personal. Well, that's understandable enough, given that not many other activities routinely call one's basic self-worth into question.
We have to construct communities of artists because they don't naturally exist in our culture.
The hardest part of art-making is living your life in such a way that your work gets done-over and over-and that means, among other things, finding a host of practices that are just plain useful.
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.
Uncertainty is the essential, inevitable and all-pervasive companion to your desire to make art
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.
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.
Your desire to make art -- beautiful or meaningful or emotive art -- is integral to your sense of who you are.
The unfolding over time of a great idea is like the growth of a fractal crystal, allowing details and refinements to multiply endlessly — but only in ever-increasing scale.
To require perfection is to invite paralysis.