Quotes About Artistry

creative people always suffer from depression because we're so super sensitive and special?

I have never created anything in my life that did not make me feel, at some point or another, like I was the guy who just walked into a fancy ball wearing a homemade lobster costume.

too many maniacs not enough michelangelos

Your creative work is not your baby; if anything, you are its baby.

Your fear will always be triggered by your creativity, because creativity asks you to enter into the realms of uncertain outcome, and fear hates uncertain outcome.

This is why we have to be careful of how we handle our fear—because I've noticed that when people try to kill off their fear, they often end up inadvertently murdering their creativity in the process.

Embrace the creativity and don't care about the result. It's better to be a beginner till the end of the life than waiting forever to be perfect.

The image of the tragic artist who lays down his tools rather than fall short of his impeccable ideals holds no romance for me. I don't see this path as heroic. I think it's far more honorable to stay in the game - even if you're objectively losing the game - than to excuse yourself from participation because of your delicate sensibilities. But in order to stay in the game, you must let go of your fantasy of perfection.

The work wants to be made, and it wants to be made through you.

Your fear will always be triggered by your creativity, because creativity asks you to enter into realms of uncertain outcome, and fear hates uncertain outcome.

Every time you express a complaint about how difficult and tiresome it is to be creative, inspiration takes another step away from you

There's no dishonor in having a job. What is dishonorable is scaring away your creativity by demanding that it pay for your entire existence.

As a creator, you can design any sort of jewelry that you like for the inside of other people's minds (or simply for the inside of your own mind). You can make work that's provocative, aggressive, sacred, edgy, traditional, earnest, devastating, entertaining, brutal, fanciful . . . but when all is said and done, it's still just intracranial jewelry-making. It's still just decoration. And that's glorious.

I always try to remind myself that I am having an affair with my creativity, and I make an effort to present myself to inspiration like somebody you might actually want to have an affair with—not

But if your calling is to make things, then you still have to make things in order to live out your highest creative potential—and also in order to remain sane.

But never delude yourself into believing that you require someone else's blessing (or even their comprehension) in order to make your own creative work. And always remember that people's judgments about you are none of your business.

Whether you think you're brilliant or you think you're a loser, just make whatever you need to make and toss it out there.

Pure creativity is something better than a necessity; it's a gift. It's the frosting.

I encourage makers to recognize that when you pull your ego out of the game, your work can become a series of joyful collaborations (between artist and mystery, between artist and peers, between artist and audience). The important thing is to take responsibility for continuing to show up for your side of the bargain.

Keep in mind that for most of history people just made things, and they didn't make such a big freaking deal out of it.

because in the end, creativity is a gift to the creator, not just a gift to the audience

the central question upon which all creative living hinges: Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?

Inspiration is allowed to do whatever it wants to, in fact, and it is never obliged to justify its motives to any of us.

There is a quiet glory [in] merely making things, and then sharing those things with an open heart and no expectations.