Diego Rivera

Woman Grinding Maize
(1924)

"Looking back on my work today, I think the best I have done grew out of things deeply felt, the worst from a pride in mere talent."

— Diego Rivera

Mexican Artist

1886 - 1957

The old saying is that pride goeth before a fall.  And there is some truth to that statement.  There are two sides to pride — bad pride and good pride.  If we are vain and arrogant, pride is a negative and should be cast out of our lives.  But I believe there is a good side to pride.  You need to have pride in yourself and what you do.  A better word might be self-confidence, but I think pride works as well.  

But Rivera is right to say that art that is not based in feeling and only in technique and skill will never be as powerful or as great as art that is inspired by emotion.  When you deeply feel about what you are painting or writing, you will do a much better job.  If you have no feeling for your subject, you are simply going through the motions.  You are not connected to the subject so it doesn't matter  what you paint.  Technique is the only thing of importance to you.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

Paint what you are connected to.  Write about what matters to you, not what you think the publishers want.  Sing songs that touch your heart.  Have pride in the work you do.  Believe that what you do is important.

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Frida Kahlo

"I paint my own reality.  The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration."

— Frida Kahlo

Mexican Painter

1907 - 1954

Do you paint the world as you see it or do you paint the world as it really is?  Can we as artists and writers know the world as it really is?  Or do we only experience a version of the world?  Only what our eyes, ears and nose tell us is out there.  Is the world we experience internal or external?  Is the world we remember internal or external?  

Roots (1943)
Sold for $5.6 million (2006)

Do you paint whatever passes through your mind?  Or do you censure what you paint because you think others won't like it or won't appreciate it or won't buy it?  Our minds often serve as judges who tell us what we should or shouldn't paint.  Our minds often limit us and hold us back from producing the art we want to produce.  Frida Kahlo was not that type of artist.  She painted the pain she felt.  She did not limit her art because she felt others wouldn't like it or understand it.  She painted the world as she saw it.  

Here is the movie trailer for the great movie of Frida Kahlo starring Salma Hayek.  If you have not seen this movie, you need to see it today.

You have read this article Emotion / Frida Kahlo / Heart / Mexican Artists / Reality with the title Frida Kahlo. You can bookmark this page URL http://gem-vita.blogspot.com/2011/05/frida-kahlo.html. Thanks!