Everything big, starts small.
I love this line, when i’m having a rough day or not feeling good enough it puts everything into perspective.
Genius doesn’t come out of no where it starts small, a conversation with a friend or an idea shared. The word genius applies to people like Van Gogh, Monet, (on show in York at the moment) and Picasso, but the secret is they don’t come out of nowhere they come out of being in the right place and are surrounded by the right people helping them, inspiring them. They grab ideas. They think outside the box. They sit in coffee shops discussing how rough their day was and how they wish they could draw or paint better. They may not always have confidence but they do have courage.
Picasso was certainly not a lone artist, he was a brilliant thief and he acknowledged it;
“good artists borrow, great artists steal.”
PABLO PICASSO
He stole ideas from artists that came before him, citing influence from Goya and Velasquez, and artists around him, he was in fierce competition with Matisse (my favourite artist).
In an interview talking about the subject of everything starts small, Bryan Eno said that he went to a gallery and saw lots of different paintings all by Picasso. He noticed they were all painted in 1908. It was at this time Picasso’s primary collector was a Russian Prince called Shchukin. He’d look at the artwork and say ‘I want this one’ and Picasso said it wasn’t finished. Or he’d say ‘I want that one’ and Picasso would think but that’s shit! From this Picasso suddenly stopped thinking he knew best about his own art. He began to get out of his own way and realised he must paint whatever comes out of him and others will judge what’s good. Today there are countless Picasso galleries and collections all over the world, because of the amount of work he made. He made work without his own judgement.
Don’t get in your own way.
The magic happens when we get out of our comfort zone.
Thanks Alastair :)
A great message, Rae. Thanks.