Train yourself: It is not by accident an artist becomes a good painter.

Learn technique; have full command to the extent of not being conscious of how it is done. When craftsmanship has been developed, you are free to create... technique will give way to expression!

Contrast warm to cool. Make color sing, ring like a bell. Work from big to small.

The less inhibited you are the better.

There is no one just like you, and there never will be anyone just like you, so there's no reason not to be original.

Always keep your best work.

If you paint from 35mm Kodachrome, you end up with a 4x5 foot Kodachrome!

Practice like good musician; draw every day.

All students need to know about color is the basic color wheel and complimentary colors. There are many books on color theory; do not waste your time and money.

Most important... develop your technical ability. You are handicapped if you do not develop well enough to hold the subconscious process so as not to have problems of inexperienced painters.

Never become an artist if you can't learn to draw.

This moment is the most important and beautiful moment of your life. Live it, love it, and enjoy it!

...everywhere I am is true.

The ugly duckling is a misunderstood universal myth. It's not about turning into a blonde Barbie doll or becoming what you dream of being; it's about self-revelation, becoming who you are.

Our stories are different; our pain is the same.

I believe so deeply in the primacy of language, in lifting your prose to the highest level you're capable of and making your words symphonic.

You have to make a decision, what you want to do in life, ... Your deal can be, you can leave tomorrow. Soon as you leave, you will be forgotten.

I will not leave a corner of my consciousness covered up, but saturate myself with the strange and extraordinary new conditions of this life, and it will all refine itself into poetry later on.

George Bush doesn't care about black people.

Because if you're prepared and you know what it takes, it's not a risk. You just have to figure out how to get there. There is always a way to get there.

You can do something no one else can do in a fashion no one else can do it.