Writing With Scissors

Friday, December 7, 2007

WRITING WITH SCISSORS
( published with permission of author )

while he refuses to distinguish between
what is inside of him
and what is outside,
he will tell you that poetry comes from within
while fiction,
when he writes some,
seems to come to him from the outside

thus as a man or as a writer he stands between
the voice of his soul and
that of a fictitious account of reality

“I am a thin membrane, a filter, a self-conscious filter,”
he explains

“and when it rains outside of me,
it also rains inside of me. And when it
rains inside of me, it also
rains outside of me. So if you need some rain,
you can just tell me,
because I know the secret of making it rain inside of me,
which mean I can make it rain outside of me.”

interesting fabrications he can think of.
The other day he told me that when Matisse (at 72) could no
longer hold a brush for painting
he used scissors to
create the shapes he needed for his works

“that’s what I am doing,” he says,
“writing with scissors.”

yet he’s not even forty years old

::: ::: :::

[Picture: Memories of... by reading_is_dangerous]

SEVEN HENRI MATISSE QUOTES I LIKE VERY MUCH:

1. It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.
   
2. I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things.
   
3. There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.
   
4. An artist must never be a prisoner. Prisoner? An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc.
   
5. I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have the light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me.
   
6. I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some sort of Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.
   
7. Exactitude is not truth.