It is only too true that a lot of artists are mentally ill- it's a life which, to put it mildly, makes one an outsider. I'm all right when I completely immerse myself in work, but I'll always remain half crazy.
Vincent van Gogh quotes (Dutch Painter, one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists, 1853-1890)


I think women are the consummate outsider artists even when they have been trained.The art world is dominated by men and their standards, expectations. Men are artists, women fit it in,in between everything else we do. And if we don't,if concentrate only on our art,we are selfish,not quite women.

And that's odd considering we create life, incubate within ourselves. God is really the supreme artist, and women gods in miniature. And to make art one has to be on the fringe, you do not make art and maintain sanity. Offspring, artworks they make you crazy or they are results of all of the love, desire, intent bottled up and looking for a canvas.

I think God wanted a canvas, he needed a show. So he made the world His gallery and we are His pieces. Women the outsider artists, creating art, as my friend Leo, the homeless outsider artist I know, says: without an education because,we already know what we're doing, it's in our bones ( my term: uteruses).

Labels: art, brute, naive, outsider