Meredith Monk Quotes

I doubt Picasso ever painted a picture in an hour, he took his time, looked at every detail and made sure it was perfect.

Perhaps I might be satisfied, momentarily, with a work finished at one sitting, but I would soon get bored looking at it; therefore, I prefer to continue working on it so that later I may recognize it as a work of my mind.

What I've learned from sketch is you can get it as perfect as you want, and it's never going to be perfect.

Painting is damned difficult - you always think you've got it, but you haven't.

You don't know how much artists go through to make it look so easy. It's all in the practice.

I've been to the studio several times, and it's not that I'm not happy with what I've got, but each time I come away, I feel that I've learned something that I want to work on.

I think it's important for an actor to see the work they've done because every time you revisit a work you come up with a new way of improving it. It's a good way to brush up your craft and your skills, so I think it's a good thing to do, keep seeing your films.

I'm not suggesting that the play is without fault; all of my plays are imperfect, I'm rather happy to say-it leaves me something to do.

Every time you work, you have to do it all over again, to rid yourself of this dross. I suppose for a person who is not an artist or not attempting art, it is not dross, because it is the common exchange of everyday life.

I've always believed that you have to have the skills before you destroy the skills. If you want to be crude, be crude, but don't be crude because you don't know how to do it, because you're not perfect at drawing and pattern-cutting.

Most good work is a combination of parts you love and parts you could do better. My constant mantra is, 'Next time, next time, next time.'

I think there's no truer and more pure purpose than to be able to refine your art to a point where you feel it's as possible as it can be.

I don't think you are ever really done working on something, especially if you can get back into rehearsal.

I'm constantly striving to break through to something new. You try to maintain a neutral approach to your work, and not be too hard on yourself.

You create a blueprint of your best performance, and you're happiest the night you surpass that blueprint. That won't happen that often, but it will happen. It's like sculpting: you keep refining. When you have a piece that is yours, that is just you, that becomes obsessive; you think about it all the time.

With every project I've ever done, I've always treated it like I'm still in school. Each time you try to go a little further, get a little deeper, feel a little more, sculpt it a little better.

I have been taking every step toward the future every day through making many paintings and sculptures with my deep emotion hidden in my life.

That's what's great about the arts. Everything inspires you, and you get a chance to grow from watching other people and how they do their work.

I tend to write and record things quite quickly. You can tamper with things for years, and it's artistic laziness sometimes.

It is important to make your own stuff. Even if you are not an actor, it is important to not stop involving yourself as a creative person.

The stage sharpened my creative instrument and encouraged me to go deeper and try new things.

For me, making music is a continuous learning experience, and I think that it feeds itself.

My main objective with every album is to capture a moment in time, which usually makes the whole process very relaxing. I only discover in retrospect when looking back at the songs how my life is going!

I have spent my life paying attention to my art form, developing my art form, worrying about my show and what I'm bringing to people, making sure that I give them a fine trade.

I always say I've given 24 insufficient performances and I'm looking forward to the time in my life when I'll do something that I think is good. There's always stuff you can do better, stuff that maybe you didn't uncover enough. But if you do something that you truly believe is perfect, then that's got to be the last movie you do.