Art is tough. Art is sweat and daubt. I'm reading Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles, Ted Orland. I'm reading it slowly, because it's so so good, I don't want to finish it. They say : Making art now means working in the face of uncertainty ; it means living with doubt and contradiction, doing something no one much cares whether you do, and for which there may be neither audience nor reward. and : But if making art gives substance to your sense of self, the corresponding fear is that you’re not up to the task — that you can’t do it, or can’t do it well, or can’t do it again; or that you’re not a real artist, or not a good artist, or have no talent, or have nothing to say. The line between the artist and his / her work is a fine one at best, and for the artist it feels (quite naturally) like there is no such line. I can relate. Every artist can. Wnenever I go to the museum or gallery with my dearest hubby, I hear him saying I could do this too. I could draw it. Big deal. Now stop. Maybe he could recreate it, but could he create it ? Could he imagine it ? Could he translate this imagination into the paper? Could he risk using this vibrant orange I overuse without destroying the painting? Could he decide about the layout? Does he know what composition is? If you show me, how to sew a dress, I could probably do it sooner or later. But, would it be my dress design? Art is tough. If I decide to use my other vibrant pigment — pink — and it won't work, I probably have to forget about the painting and start all over. The writer can delete. With few keystrokes. The copyist has the map prepared for him, so he doesn't need to take risks. I need to destroy and move forward. It's scary. Next time you think that you could do it too, do it. Risk it all. Put on the line the best Arches paper that costs lottsa money, the precious inks that cost even more. What separates artists from ex-artists is that those who challenge their fears, continue; those who don’t, quit. (...) Vision is always ahead of execution, knowledge of materials is your contact with reality, and uncertainty is a virtue.