Ken Danby Quotes

• Art is a necessity - an essential part of our enlightenment process. We cannot, as a civilized society, regard ourselves as being enlightened without the arts.

  Ken Danby

  Art, Enlightenment, Essentials

  13 Copy quote

• Art is completely subjective. It's up to the viewer to judge whether or not it has merit.

  Ken Danby

  Art, Judging, Merit

  7 Copy quote

• Today, we're encouraged to believe that we should have a verbal interpretation for what we view as art - when in fact the words are an intrusion on the experience.

  Ken Danby

  Art, Believe, Views

  7 Copy quote

• Growing up in Northern Ontario provided me with a strong affinity for the natural environment that was so eloquently responded to by Tom Thomson and his colleagues. The concept of this painting grew out of a number of forays into Algonquin over the years. From its conception I intended Algonquin to be a subtle tribute to Tom Thomson. But I also wanted it to be a response to the natural beauty that so typifies the grandeur of Ontario’s first provincial park.

  Ken Danby

  Strong, Growing Up, Numbers

  7 Copy quote

• Don't cater to the audience. Inspire the audience.

  Ken Danby

  Inspire, Audience

  7 Copy quote

• Desire is everything, not talent. It's the degree of one's desire that will dictate the extent of one's success, in any endeavour.

  Ken Danby

  Desire, Degrees, Talent

  7 Copy quote

• Without art, we're handicapped, and living a stifled, barren existence.

  Ken Danby

  Life, Art, Barren

  4 Copy quote

• The degree to which the arts are included in our educational curriculum is totally inadequate. The arts are just as important as math and science in an education and just as important as any other endeavour in our lives.

  Ken Danby

  Art, Educational, Math

  8 Copy quote

• Whenever I'm asked to identify my best work, or my favorite, my answer has always been the same - 'My next one!'

  Ken Danby

  Answers, Next, Conformity

  7 Copy quote

• My paintings don't simply represent what I see; they present viewers with what I want them to see.

  Ken Danby

  Want, Painting, Viewers

  4 Copy quote

• Regardless of the importance of known evidence to the contrary, the arts are generally regarded as being so much entertaining fluff, a commodity that isn't a priority in the traditional program of learning. This is unacceptable in a so-called 'enlightened' society.

  Ken Danby

  Art, Priorities, Commodity

  7 Copy quote

• Emulation and imitation can legitimately influence one's development, but ultimately the artist must find his own path - and be true to himself.

  Ken Danby

  Artist, Emulation, Development

  7 Copy quote

• The role of the artist is like that of an explorer and a teacher - a teacher of seeing. No one is more capable of conveying this enlightenment than the artist.

  Ken Danby

  Teacher, Teaching, Artist

  7 Copy quote

• The human condition is not served by our technical ability to transmit a televised image around the world - if that image is totally inane.

  Ken Danby

  Technology, World, Human Condition

  9 Copy quote

• I must have the personal dialogue, the private time, with each painting in progress. I can't share it with anyone until it's done.

  Ken Danby

  Solitude, Progress, Done

  7 Copy quote

• Understand who you are and who you want to be, and thereby learn how you may best relate to others.

  Ken Danby

  Understanding, May, Want

  8 Copy quote

• Abstraction and realism work best together.

  Ken Danby

  Together, Realism, Abstraction

  8 Copy quote

• There's nothing like a little fear or hunger to motivate one's inspiration. To take that away from a young artist can offer quite a disservice.

  Ken Danby

  Motivation, Inspiration, Artist

  4 Copy quote

• Learn to nurture and trust your instincts as well as your conscious reasoning. Often, one's instincts will offer the better judgment.

  Ken Danby

  Judgment, Instinct, Conscious

  10 Copy quote

• We do not see with our eyes, but through them.

  Ken Danby

  Eye, Vision, Awe

  4 Copy quote

• Without good drawing, the foundation of a painting will collapse.

  Ken Danby

  Drawing, Foundation, Painting

  7 Copy quote

• Creative expression and visual comprehension are really the handmaidens of art. One cannot thrive without the other.

  Ken Danby

  Art, Expression, Creative

  8 Copy quote

• In painting, detail for the sake of itself is useless. It must have relevance to the whole.

  Ken Danby

  Details, Useless, Sake

  4 Copy quote

• Art is a necessity, an essential part of our enlightenment process.

  Ken Danby

  Art, Enlightenment, Essentials

  4 Copy quote

• As an artist, my concern is toward the synthesizing of all the visual elements at my disposal - at the exclusion of none.

  Ken Danby

  Artist, Vision, Elements

  7 Copy quote

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