14 January, 2011

Courage In The Breed

Here is an essay first posted in early 2009.  Inspiration for the artist, I hope.


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I was driving to the city yesterday, past snow-clad fields, and I noticed a farm dog running like his tail was on fire. I thought to myself, "I wonder if he's...he is! " He was facing down a coyote intruding in his domain, and then I noticed that it was two coyotes.

"...courage is essential to the artist." Henri Matisse


I regarded that as an amazing display of courage by that dog. A pair of coyotes can easily defeat even a full grown deer, and the matter was simply that the dog had his range to defend and nothing was going to keep him from doing that! 

The antipathy between farm dogs and coyotes is well known, and as a matter of fact the dog's behavior was common to his breed.

What characteristics are common to your own breed? The artist is known for artistic integrity, and presenting an abundance of that is having courage.

For a review of these traits, see the following posts: Artistic Integrity and Artistic Courage - Get It!

Have you defended your artistic space lately?


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great quote Casey! Courage is so important to being an artist....oh, and patience too!

Unknown said...

Great Matisse quote & inspirational post. Thanks for that. (o:

Celeste Bergin said...

my breed? I am not sure what my breed is...if I had to say I guess outdoor painters are rugged. They keep going under harsh conditions...they seem like people who believe in themselves. What do you think?

Casey Klahn said...

I may not get to answer each comment, with my bad internet. Thanks for comments, Mary, Aubrey (great to have your first comment here, I think) and Celeste.

I'll let you decide your breed, Celeste. I regard outdoors painters very highly.

james weatherhill said...

Thanks for the posts!

Casey Klahn said...

You are welcome, James. Thanks for commenting.

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