1. What makes a work is the interpretation of the mind.
2. What lies between touches both.
3. “Completion” is not the end of creation.
4. The seeds he planted came to Bud by chance.
5. Naysaying is not saying. (If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.)
6. Be ready to deal with the fact that you’re not going to be happy with the end-product of your work.
7. The whole is much greater when its parts are put together in just the right way without second-guessing the form and function of that creation.
8. The simplest elements strengthen a work because they are the elements which require the least thought.
9. Follow your thoughts without resorting to artifice.
10. Embrace editing and drop what you like the most first. (Be careful when holding small children.)
11. Some works are created to impart meaning; some works are created to show off.
12. The contempt of the present is not yet the judgment of history.
13. Creation is never quite what you intended; sometimes it’s way off.
14. Attempting to impart a growing body of information in a work will likely leave it without stability.
15. Knowing something exposes it to all of our prejudices and preconceptions making that knowledge something else entirely.
16. Building a work opens a small pinhole view of the nose of God.
17. Your thoughts operate differently from your feelings; note the differences and use them.
18. Work without fear of what has already been said and done.
19. Learn what changes between concept and application.
20. Any element in a work will affect the other elements around it.
James Rosen’s 20 Points On Art
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