Diana Gabaldon Quotes

I consider myself first of all an artist. My work is about my creativity - why I create and not for whom.

One does not devote one's life in art to shock an audience.

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.

I don't believe that artists really are interested in money. That's not the motivation for art.

Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing - then a work of art may happen.

As an artist, the most important thing and the most special thing is when your intention shines through on the work.

If you're a painter, you don't go, 'Abstract's really selling, so that's what I'm going to do.' If you're really truly an artist, you have to think what you're meant to paint.

As an artist, you have to do what you feel passionate about. It has to be something you can connect with.

I really only put stuff out when I have something to say and I feel like I've got a direction and I've got an idea - and that can even take two, two-and-a-half years to flesh out.

To be an artist is a blessing and a privilege. Artists must never betray their true hearts. Artists must look beneath the surface and show that there is more to this world than what meets the eye.

You have to remain strong. That's the kind of filmmaker I want to encourage. Orson Welles was the one who said, you know, you can learn anything you need to know about filmmaking- that's camera, sound, celluloid, video at this point- in four hours. It has nothing to do with anything. It has nothing to do with it... It has to do with what you want to say. If you feel you have something to say, you'll find that way to get it said, on film, and not let anyone or anything chip away at that or tarnish it, because it's something special and precious.

When an artist explains what he is doing, he usually has to do one of two things: either scrap what he has explained, or make his work fit in with the explanation.

All great art is the work of the whole living creature, body and soul, and chiefly of the soul.

There is an incredible love in creating art unless somebody is saying, 'Hey, let's just make money,' because it doesn't work when you do it that way. If you are aiming for that, forget it.

Artists need to express.

I'm very interested to see how this new painting will go - I know I want it big and stark, and as I said, I follow the muse, and that's when it always works perfectly for me.

Artwork is not like a commercial business; there is no such thing as a schedule for art. You can't hurry art.

I've always felt that if one was going to take seriously this vocation as an artist, you have to get beyond that decorative facade.

I think every artist should follow their vision; their hearts is what they need to reveal, not something that society is looking out for. That said though, I think also artists have, continuously good artists, have been good for their times.

I'm not looking to be an artist to make money. I'm looking to be an artist.

A painter's tastes must grow out of what so obsesses him in life that he never has to ask himself what it is suitable for him to do in art.

Music is the doorway that has led me to drawing, photography, and writing.

Make good art.

But as long as you're creating the art you want to create, if people start liking you, you shouldn't have to apologize. You want your stuff to be heard by as many people as possible.

I have a desire to create more film, more beauty, more art, more love, but I don't feel desperate. It's not about creating or building a career.