Robert Wade Quotations

(Collected from various writings and lectures.)

 

It is not the subject that makes a painting work, it is the interpretation of the subject by the artist that lifts it out of the ordinary.  Robert Wade

 

Do not call yourself an artist until your peers tell you that you are!  Robert Wade

 

Watercolour is a lifetime pursuit...mostly uphill.  Robert Wade

 

A strong right hand is a valuable attribute.  It enables you to rip up some of your failures.  Robert Wade

 

Never sell a work of which you are not proud to say "I painted that!"  If you sell a "dog" it will always come back to bite you.  Robert Wade

 

If there is something in your painting that needs explaining to the viewer, then it should never have been included.  Just because it is there in the subject is never sufficient reason to paint it there!  Robert Wade.

 

Teaching allows me to give back something to the profession from which I have received so much over so many years. Robert Wade.

 

 Teachers have a profound effect on their students and I wonder if they are really aware of that. Passing on our knowledge must be done in a way that enables the student to understand it, to retain it, to be able to implement it and to be enthused by it.  Robert Wade.

 

When teaching, you must constantly engage in self-examination of your beliefs and working methods.  It is not possible, nor is it fair to your group, to try and bluff your way through any difficult questions.  Robert Wade

 

Artists notice something around them and then respond to that particular set of circumstances. Robert Wade

  It’s not just what you say but how you say it, that is so important.  Robert Wade

 

My original small idea grows beyond the limitations of the subject. (Robert Wade)

 

Watercolour takes hold of each and every one who takes up the challenge to paint with this glorious medium!  A habit? A drug? Yes, it is both of these things and we are hooked for all time. (Robert Wade)

 

 

Ambition is a very important part of the painter's personality, and without it there is no stimulus to arouse your enthusiasm and compel you to go forward in the face of failure and rejection. (Robert Wade)

 

 

Someone began this with a thought, a sheet of paper and a pencil... all this magnificence was achieved without computers and slide rules... cranes or forklifts, and murals were painted without cameras or projectors. It all makes one feel very insignificant, doesn't it? [on 12th century Cathedral Sainte-Cecile in Albi] 

(Robert Wade)