“A picture must possess a real power to generate light and for a long time now I’ve been conscious of expressing myself through light or rather in light. I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me.

An artist must never be a prisoner. Prisoner? An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc. An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language.

I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me. I don’t paint things. I only paint the difference between things.

He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.”

by Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954)

via Paulo Coelho’s blog.