Artistic Quotations | Page 3

When I was a bad writer, I would consciously imitate other NPR writers who I thought were wonderful. I suppose that everyone's artistic practice is different. But I collaborate and sometimes don't agree at all with my collaborators' opinions. It forces you to understand why you don't agree with something: what's the fight you're picking.

I love art. My sister is an artist and my mother is a painter, so it is very much in the family. I haven't ever wanted to be a fine artist myself - my sister robbed me of my artistic talent, I think.

I have always favored a mix. I don't believe in segregating music into categories. I think that exercise tends to be very arbitrary. I like to quote the jazz great Louis Armstrong on the subject: 'There are only two types of music, good and bad. I play good music.' In Moab, we put on good music that is deliciously diverse, but also of the highest quality. Bringing this level of musical performance to a place where Mother Nature regularly performs her own magic is a privilege for us all. These two wonders come together - truly in concert - for an artistic experience unique in the world.

Most campaigns rely on photographs because the moment you do something that is a graphic interpretation where any artistic license has been taken, I think a lot of people are scared that it's going to be perceived as propaganda.

Most of my older friends who are artistic and who have left here are jealous; they miss living here. At this age we all want to get out of here, but when you come right down to it, there's no place like Santa Fe.

It's just weird that for some people, art is a luxury. My parents had no artistic outlet. Some people pass down music to their kids, but I couldn't tell you what my mom's or dad's favorite song is. So when I started going out into the world, I was drawn to people who knew about movies, art, even fashion.

She encouraged any artistic impulse I had, and my father discouraged any artistic impulse I had. They took out their problems with each other on me and my sister.

The character I created, 'Commissario Brunetti,' who appears in all my books, shares similar reading, artistic and musical tastes with me. Subconsciously, I knew that if I was to spend however long it would take to write this book with him, this man would have to be someone I'd like to have dinner with.

A lot of people who curate in the business, and curate the art, don't really have good artistic sense. They may know commerce, but they aren't savvy enough to know how to balance commerce and art, you know? They don't know how to satisfy both palates.

I was interested in the nuts and bolts of its chemistry, the thermodynamics. I learned to blow glass in an artistic vacuum.