Mary Engelbreit Quotes

I'm most happy when I am writing at night, because I need space and time to write.

I always listen to music while I draw.

My perfect day is sitting in a room with some blank paper. That's heaven. That's gold, and anything else is just a waste of time.

And going into my studio at night, particularly at night when everybody's asleep, is just a total pleasure for me.

When I make a film, I don't watch a lot of other films. I read a lot; I try to read poems, things that can liberate my human condition, that make me go away... I spend a lot of the time doing nothing, just concentrating on the subject. Sometimes I'll sit in my chair for two or three hours without doing anything.

I live in a neighborhood that's very family-oriented, so I feel like everyone else is sleeping and I'm sitting up, making music. It's just me. It's a nice time to be creative.

I learned...that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.

The primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid; the state of being alone.

To draw you must close your eyes and sing.

I am in total silence when I write - I don't even like the sound of the dryer going - I like the quiet.

Unfortunately, poetry is not born in noise, in crowds, or on a bus. There have to be four walls and the certainty that the telephone will not ring. That's what writing is all about.

A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude.

Night is the mother of thoughts.

I try to stay focused on my creativity.

I'm a songwriter. I need silence to hear the melodies, so I don't fill the days with a lot of sound.

Creating is a lonely thing in a lot of ways.

I take conscious breaks for myself 'cause I like to rejuvenate and get my creative juices flowing. I also like to take my time with my creativity; I think it's important.

Sunday is the one day I keep reminding myself that I should lay around and take it easy, but because I am O.C.D. and an extreme multitasker, I find it hard to get lazy. I love Sundays for painting because it's quieter; the gallery is closed, and there are no interruptions.

My whole life, I've always had to be surrounded by creative things. I find it relaxing to be in touch with creations by other people.

I got in touch with the creative process between the age of 14 and 16, mainly because I was alone so much.

The one happiness is to shut one's door upon a little room, with a table before one, and to create; to create life in that isolation from life.

I can concentrate on my art.

I could fall asleep at 10:30 watching 'Hill Street Blues.' I might wake up at 1 A.M. and have a riff in my head.

I try to indulge my muse whenever I am able to get away from it all.

To walk into a studio, for me, is just like walking onto a beach or something.