"...hanging out does not make one an artist. A second hand wardrobe does not make one an artist. Neither do a hair-trigger temper, melancholic nature, propensity for tears, hating your parents, nor even HIV. They can help, but just as being gay does not make you witty, the only thing that makes one an artist is making art. And that requires the precise opposite of hanging out, a deeply lonely and unglamorous task of tolerating oneself long enough to push something out."
I might add a comment of my own, that is; there is a desire amongst us to tell a story. I often think of the aboriginal cave painters and what might have inspired them to produce their images. It can only be a desire to tell a story. And if they had a story to tell thousands of years ago, then so do we. I think it's important to give ourselves the opportunity to tell our story, if only to ourselves; whether it's through painting, sculpture, ceramics, writing, photography, playing a musical instrument...whatever. Something we can do that defines us as unique individuals with our own characteristics we've had since day one.
