a little art quote

from "Painting for Pleasure" by R.O. Dunlop. I found a photocopy from one of my painting classes today as I cleaned out several years' worth of papers in my file cabinet. I just had to share it:

"Meanness never pays in art. You may have to be wasteful, to mix more than you eventually need, to discard sketches, to try again and again. But it is the generous spirit that will prove the best in the end. It is as though art were linked with giving and not with getting, that the spirit must be moved to express itself lavishly, in order to do good work in art."

I've always been afraid to use lots of whatever material I am working with, always afraid of running out, so this was such a timely thing to find. I think I might be stifling a bit of creativity by needing to control so much--not getting started on something just because I might not have enough, or wanting to hoard tons of materials for some unknown day that I will use them all in a huge piece. Worth thinking about.