"A work of art is a corner of the Creation seen through a temperament."
(Emile Zola, c. 1866)

"There's no way of looking at a work of art by itself.  It's not self-evident - it needs a history, it needs a lot of talking about; it's part of a whole man's [sic] life."
--quoted in Stevens, M. & Swan, A. (2004)  de Koonig:  An American master.  New York: Knopf.

Although he wrote and spoke many wonderful things about art, Matisse was very skeptical about the usefulness of painters' reliance on words.  As I try to build this blog, I will remember his wise warning:  "A painter who addresses the public not just in order to present his [sic] works, but to reveal some of his ideas on the art of painting, exposes himself to several dangers ...I am fully aware that a painters' best spokesperson is his work" (Notes from a painter, 1908).

When asked by Verdet in 1952 when the necessity to create a piece of art starts to germinate, Matisse responded:  'It begins when the individual realizes his [sic] boredom or his solitude and has need of action to recover his equilibrium."

Art isn't about painting a picture.  Art is a journey.  And it can last a whole life.  A place where you understand your whole life from.