Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.

                                                                                         Chuck Close

     

This is a fascinating glimpse into a amazing artist with a unique philosophy of life. Well worth the watch. True inspiration. If you don’t know much about Chuck Close’s life you should definitely investigate, as his life and times are as interesting as his works of art.







"Every great idea I've ever had grew out of work itself."

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case.”
                                                                                                              ― Chuck Close






Links:
CBS This Morning
Chuck Close's advice to his younger self
Pace Gallery
Chuck Close Website





Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim


3 comments:

  1. Chuck Close is an amazing artist and an amazing person. Thanks for sharing these truths!

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  2. Greetings Jim,
    This video is simply delightful, his statement
    "NEVER let anyone define what you are capable of by using parameters that don't apply to you." is a jem.

    I love it! Love Chuck.

    Thank you for sharing.

    Barbara Ann

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well.....I must be an amateur because I can't help but feel inspired. Nice find Jim!

    ReplyDelete