Do not be intimidated when looking at a piece of art—and it is art I am referring to here, not advertising.

In art everyone is equal in feeling; this means that each individual provides a unique meaning to the creation. If the viewer sees it, then it is there. The art looker completes the painting.

You might spend two hours watching a film of little merit; yet how much time do you allot to a piece of art?

One artist confided that many of her undergraduate art majors abandoned the dream when they weren’t accepted into their first choice MFA program.

If these wannabes had known that no one could teach them how to be an artist, their lives might have taken an artist’s path where a creator lives in the present moment of fulfillment instead of hope.

You cannot get a degree in “art.” Do not confuse technique with art.

Getting an MFA degree, of course, can plug you into the academic system—if that is where you think you want to dwell. For a creator, getting a degree in art is like having to pass a test to get a license to have an orgasm.

As Morpheus put it: You must see the Matrix for yourself.

While talent may be innate, it is not inevitable.

No thing including art can exist without opportunity.

What if Mozart’s father had been a plumber instead of a music teacher, would Amadeus have discovered his genius for notes? What if Picasso’s father had been a baker instead of an art instructor, would Pablo have found painting?

Your talent, like a seed, must find the right climate to sprout.

Getting a grant or fellowship to pursue your art can be glorious, and it can add academic prestige to your curriculum vita.

If you apply to the right granting institution for your work, fill out the forms correctly, and if your timing is right, you might be chosen.

Not applying guarantees not being selected.

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Thanksgiving Day is a good time to consider a much misused word.

Do you know what sacrifice means? If you haven’t experienced it, then the word is abstract.

To sacrifice, you give up something of great value for something else that you deem to be of even greater value—your art in this case. The word sacrifice is all too often used by too many to spell out an inconvenience. Sacrifice bites deeply and to the core. 

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