Edward Ruscha Quotes

As soon as I went to painting school in New York, I took an experimental film course, and everything clicked and came together. I realized my love of music and drama and the visual arts all came together. This happened in 1989. Since then, it's been a long road of educating myself in every possible way.

I liked drawing and painting, because the only failure would be to listen to the doubters who wanted me to stop drawing and painting because 'you aren't going to make a living doing that.' I liked looking in art books at the work of painters.

I wasn't exposed to art as I was growing up, and can't recall the first time I saw a work of art. However, I remember very clearly a vision I had of a little green reindeer when I was a child, and visions emanate from the same mythical area where painting resides. Whatever the reason, I immediately felt comfortable working with visual materials.

When you are older, you realise that everything else is just nothing compared to painting and drawing.

I don't want to be a film-maker. I think painting is far more exciting and profound.

I had tried painting, mostly to give myself a greater appreciation of the craft and to inform how I looked at paintings. That led to collaging some of the work I had done on paper, and I found myself mixing in found pieces as well.

When I wake up, I can't wait to get to the studio, go into the paint room.

I really want to continue doing art. I would love to go back to doing paintings one day.

As an artist, you find at different times you want to do different things.

I started painting at 17; I took a class at Brentwood Art Center. I thought about art school - but I'm just so not a school person.

Once I found art, it was a wrap.

Art is a beautiful world to get into. Once you are there, it is very difficult to get out of it. Like, once you start painting, you don't want to leave your brush and colours.

It took me twenty years to discover painting: twenty years looking at nature, and above all, going to the Louvre.

My first artistic love was drawing and painting.

I thought maybe I could become like the next Van Gogh. I bought a sunflower and painted it, and it looked like the work of a 6-year-old.

I'm constantly exposing myself to art and that inspires me.

I am only limited by the amount of life I have left to capture the ideas I am already working on. Another problem is that I am not sure if I would rather create or collect art. Collecting art is another passion of mine.

It's a great challenge and a wonderful journey how to figure out how to be an artist and to carve my way.

Making art has never been a mystery to me. It's never been something that's very difficult.

I don't paint to live, I live to paint.

I cannot live without art: it excites me, it challenges me, and it leads me to the next thing.

You will see, in the future I will live by my watercolors.

I felt I really wanted to back off from music completely and just work within the visual arts in some way. I started painting quite passionately at that time.

But where there is no art show, I would still be painting.

My imagination can picture no fairer happiness than to continue living for art.