Two art quotes

Maybe this post is just for me, since I am not going to make any effort to pretty it up.  But maybe it will resonate with someone out there.

Michelle's painting, found here.  I love this one.

This one I discovered today, when reading this interview with Michelle Armas:

"You could spend the day laying around, or spend it painting. Even if you think it isn't your best work, keep going, waste paint, canvas, paint over and over something until you like it. My best selling and most popular paintings were all mistakes and shitty paintings that sat around before I had an idea and painted over them." 

This is of Shelby and Joe, from her anniversary post.  AMAZING the stories she tells with photos.

This one has hung in my mind for days, ever since reading it on my friend Shelby's amazing photography blog:

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through”.  {Ira Glass}

P.S.  Notice how I couldn't resist the pretty after all?