Abstract painter Willem de Kooning, talking about his practice:
Each new glimpse is determined by many,
Many glimpses before.
It’s this glimpse which inspires you — like an occurrence.
And I notice those are always my moment of having an idea
That maybe I could start a painting.
….
Y’know the real world, this so-called the real world,
Is just something you put up with, like everybody else.
I’m in my element when I am a little bit out of this world:
then I’m in the real world — I’m on the beam.
Because when I’m falling, I’m doing all right;
When I’m slipping, I say, hey, this is interesting!
It’s when I’m standing upright that bothers me:
I’m not doing so good; I’m stiff.
As a matter of fact, I’m really slipping, most of the time,
into that glimpse. I’m like a slipping glimpser.
(Sketchbook 1: Three Americans, 1960)
