Robert Genn Quotes

Abstraction generally involves implication, suggestion and mystery, rather than obvious description.

While this may seem peculiar, the combo of work and distraction leads to levels of innovation not often generated by structured, focused thinking alone.

Take your brush here and there like a bee in an alpine meadow. In other words, don't laboriously work on or try to finish off one particular part. Paint promiscuously.

Properly channeled, common feelings of inadequacy lead to powers of accomplishment.

Don't assume there is only one way. Don't assume that mistakes are a bad thing. Don't think for one minute that everyone agrees with what 'good' is.

Previously unseen boo-boos come at you like tattoos on a teenage girl.

Most of my contemporary grant-getters are now doing something other than painting.

Seems those with money who don't worry about money have big walls.

Life is a passage through a museum of beauty.

I required a destination that was worthy of many visits.

While Mojo suggests any art that invokes supernatural powers, for us creators Mojovation means finding magic in what we do.

Great paintings have gradations, large and small... They serve to lift the subject off the two-dimensionality of the canvas. Gradations are an essential abstract convention.

Do not be frivolous with the gift of a day. Right now it's all you have. Yesterday is history.

Accepting the gift may take the accumulated wisdom of some trodden miles, but it also opens the welcome windows of joy.

We artists allow others to see through our windows.

Artspeak is an arcane writing style that can result in a vocabulary of obscurities... Today, some of the more spectacular examples are in artist's statements.

A painting has an intrinsic value which has nothing to do with critical assessments.

It's my wish that I can help creative people think of new ways to be creative - to get more joy and understanding from their own unique processes.

Whatever you do, don't let your system run you.

It's okay to doubt. It's important to test. The way to discover secrets is to be a student of your own efforts.

Sometimes you have to go through something else to find what you're looking for.

The Canadian painter A. Y. Jackson noted that 'failure of sight' was a tiresome problem. He meant we should be able to look at our work-in-progress as if it were previously unseen.

Style essentially appeared out of what I liked to do.

Flowers are an education in a vase.

When I'm in the studio I often hunger for the road. And when away I long for the efficiency of the studio.

I simply like the monumentality of the subjects - the opportunity for metaphor and the varied light that comes with high altitudes.

An early flourish of confidence is useful. Then there's the small crudities - the slubs and bumps that come with outdoor work - the odd charm of imprecision.

Prices need to be fair, appropriate and consistent.

A high price may be part of the mystique in selling difficult art.

A simple equation for the production of successful art work is lots of reference material plus lots of art supplies equals lots of painting happiness.

Dogs are angels sent from heaven in order to help us to be better people.

Do something others will have the desire to plagiarize but will find difficult to do.

Start with the foreground. Compositions fail when the foreground is treated as an afterthought.

Art is a Great Goddess of infinite intrigue and illusion, and even a lifetime of worship may not find her fickle soul.

Artists... do not need the applause or condemnation of the critics, the ideas of other artists, or the demands of the collectors.

Dealer goodwill and friendship are keys to thrival.

People suspend judgment in the presence of mystery.

While knowledge of tools and the love of motif may be in your backpack, and all mountains may be measured by their previous heroes, art must exist for you in a place beyond the judgment of others.

The artist needs to sit patiently at the feet of Nature in all Her moods and nuances and silently develop the skills to honour Her. There are no recipes for Autumn.

Certain music is terrifically inspirational and it is possible, months or even years afterwards, to look at a painting and remember the music that was playing during its execution.

Music is the most abstract of the arts and it expresses the sound of the universe itself. These are the real rhythms that stimulate the artist's mind and guide his hand.

Where there are few expectations, expediency wins.

Art is a path on which we honour our world.

More than any other colour, red is loaded for action.

Which is better--feeling good or getting good?

As you do your work, you discover what you love to do.

According to Mednick, after sleep, people are 33 percent more likely to be creative.

So who are we going to blame for our disappointments and our failures?

You're right, super-realism is back in style.

The thing about art is that life is in no danger of being meaningless.