Vivienne Westwood Quotes

You don't know how much artists go through to make it look so easy. It's all in the practice.

I take a pretty expansive view of craft, which is to say I don't see craft as just being technique - it's also process; subject; ideas and feelings; visions and dreams; the words that are put down and the words that are avoided.

I know how to paint... In a way there is a boredom there because a lot of the magic is gone.

Becoming an artist does not merely mean learning something, acquiring professional techniques and methods. Indeed, as someone has said, in order to write well you have to forget the grammar.

Anything is an art if you do it at the level of an art.

Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.

Method is much, technique is much, but inspiration is even more.

Art is not in some far-off place. A work of art is the expression of a man's whole personality, sensibility and ability.

In photo shoots, I rely on instinct. Which is not to say I don't bring ideas to a project or consider it beforehand.

Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.

For a sculptor, a painter, a weaver, a potter, the dialogue between one's materials and what one makes from them is easy to see: discover a new material or a new way to use a familiar one, and new things can be made, sometimes leading to the discovery of more new material, leading to more creation.

Art doesn't interest me. Only artists interest me.

Part of my work is dedicated to artisanship and can only be done by very few people because it requires a specific technique. Being an artist is being at the service of yourself; I am at the service of other people.

I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art.

I am a very technical guy. I'm proud of my technique, my fluidity, and my skill; that's what I work on every day. I try to out-technique guys.

I think there's something beautiful about the art of making art, and it just will live and breathe.

There's nothing more special than intellect and labour that makes painting work. There's no magic there; it's information, and it's work.

I just freestyle. I don't actually write the words on paper. It's just whatever comes into my mind. I'll record three or four lines at a time, get a good take, and do three or four more. It may be whatever comes into my mind. But I care about my craft a lot more than a lot of other people.

Art without technique is invertebrate, shapeless, characterless.

Art stands on the shoulders of craft, which means that to get to the art, you must master the craft.

It may sound affected - but it is the act of creation itself, and it is equally exhilarating whether one is working on a teaspoon or a national bank.

The first thing you've got to do is know your craft, and then you can do something else with it.

Art is craft, not inspiration.

That talk of inspiration is sheer nonsense; there is no such thing. It is a mere matter of craftsmanship.

Never worry that rote exercises aimed at developing skills will suffocate creativity. At the same time, it's important to recognize that demonstrating great technique is not the same as being creative.