What is real for me are the illusions I create with my paintings. Everything else is quicksand.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the subjective nature of reality, suggesting that personal creations hold more value than the external world's uncertainties.
Eugene Delacroix expresses the idea that reality is shaped by personal experiences and perceptions, particularly through the lens of art. He implies that the illusions crafted in his paintings are more substantial and meaningful to him than the transient and unstable nature of the external world, which he likens to quicksand. This reflects a deep commitment to creativity and an understanding of how art can provide a sense of stability and truth amidst life's uncertainties.
In practice
This quote can be used to inspire artists during workshops about personal expression.
The outcome of my days is always the same; an infinite desire for what one never gets; a void one cannot fill; an utter yearning to produce in all ways, to battle as much as possible against time that drags us along, and the distractions that throw a veil over our soul.
Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who can't attain it in anything.
A picture is nothing but a bridge between the soul of the artist and that of the spectator.
Experience has two things to teach. The first is that we must correct a great deal and the second, that we must not correct too much.
The source of genius is imagination alone, the refinement of the senses that sees what others do not see, or sees them differently.
Glory to that Homer of painting, to that father of warmth and enthusiasm... he really paints men.
The good qualities in our soul are most successfully and forcefully awakened by the power of art. Just as science is the intellect of the world, art is its soul.
What comes first? The melody, always. It's all about singing the melodies live in my head. They go in circles. I guess I'm quite conservative and romantic about the power of melodies. I try not to record them on my Dictaphone when I first hear them. If I forget all about it and it pops up later on, then I know it's good enough. I let my subconscious do the editing for me.
I can’t worry too much about the everyday things. Otherwise I’d lose touch with my own world, that helps me as an artist, but it’s frustrating for the people around me. I’m vaguely functional, but there’s always something slightly off.
The journey homewards. Coming home. That's what it's all about. The journey to the coming of the Kingdom. That's probably the chief difference between the Christian and the secular artist--the purpose of the work, be it story or music or painting, is to further the coming of the kingdom, to make us aware of our status as children of God, and to turn our feet toward home.
The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.
The artist beholds in nature more than she herself Nature is conscious of.
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