The More I Work, The More I

Never, Never Do I Set To Work On A Canvas In The State It Comes In From The Shop. I Provoke Accidents - A Form, A Splotch Of Color. Any Accident Is Good Enough. I Let The Matiere Decide. Then I Prepare A Ground By, For Example, Wiping My Brushes On The Canvas. Letting Fall Some Drops Of Turpentine On It Would Do Just As Well. If I Want To Make A Drawing I Crumple The Sheet Of Paper Or I Wet It; The Flowing Water Traces A Line And This Line May Suggest What Is To Come Next.

To Gain Freedom Is To Gain Simplicity.

That Which Interests Me Above All Else Is The Calligraphy Of A Tree Or The Tiles Of A Roof, And I Mean Leaf By Leaf, Branch By Branch, Blade By Blade Of Grass.

I Begin Painting And As I Paint The Picture Begins To Assert Itself, Or Suggest Itself, Under My Brush. The Form Becomes A Sign For A Woman Or A Bird As I Work... The First Stage Is Free, Unconscious... The Second Stage Is Carefully Calculated.

I Throw Down The Gauntlet To Chance. For Example, I Prepare The Ground For A Picture By Cleaning My Brush Over The Canvas. Spilling A Little Turpentine Can Also Be Helpful.