Quotes: Carl Jung

"The greater the contrast, the greater the potential. Great energy only comes from a correspondingly great tension of opposites."

–– Carl Jung (1875-1961), Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist 

via: Commonplace Book, 2024, 2025, p. 63. 

Quotes: Songezo Zantsi

"I close my [studio] day with a process I've come to enjoy over the years, creating small works that allow me to play outside my usual medium of oil painting. It's my way of experimenting with materials I'm not typically known for, such as polish and calamine, and working on different surfaces such as wood, paper or canvas. I also explore using watercolours, oil pastels and soft pastels. These pieces are more about embracing mistakes and letting go of the day's creative energy. I don't judge myself when creating these works; they're a space to experiment and release any built-up tension. If one of these works sparks more interest or inspiration overnight, I'll revisit it the next morning, but in the moment, it's just about letting go and playing." 

–– Songezo Zantsi (b. 1991), South African visual artist

Source: House and Leisure South Africa, Autumn 2025, Digest/Studio visits, Songezo Zantsi, p. 229. 

via: Sketchbook U 21, 2025, p. 8-9. 

Quotes: Sir Kenneth Clark

"Art ... must do something more than give pleasure: it should relate to our own life so as to increase our energy of spirit." 

–– Sir Kenneth Clark (1903-1983), British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 157. 

Quotes: David Lynch

"We're like lightbulbs. If bliss starts growing inside you, it's like a light; it affects the environment.

"If you go into a room where someone's been having a big argument, it's not so pleasant. You can feel it. Even if the argument's over, you can feel it. But if you go into a room where someone has just finished meditating, you can feel that bliss. It's very nice to feel that.

"We all affect our environments. You enjoy that light inside, and if you ramp it up brighter and brighter, you enjoy more and more of it. And that light will extend out farther and farther."

–– David Lynch (1946-2025), American filmmaker, visual artist, musician and actor

Source: David Lynch. Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2006; p. 105. 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 40.

Quotes: George Bernard Shaw

"Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn. You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak." 

–– George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish playwright, critic, and social activist 

via: Sketchbook  O 15, 2024, p. 43.

Quotes: Erika Cramer

"Most people aren't jealous of the things you have, or even the way you look. It's always the energy. Your aura. Your electricity. The vibe you emit. It shakes them up and awakens dormant frequencies that remind them they can be better but choose not to. You got them shook, keep going." 

–– Erika Cramer, American public speaker, author, podcaster, coach 

Source: The Queen of Confidence, Instagram, June 10, 2024

Quotes: Unknown

"Where the attention is, that becomes lively." 

–– unknown 

Source: David Lynch. Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2006. 

via: Day In & Day Out Notebook, 2018, p. 21.

Quotes: Suhaib Rumi

"Most of life is a play of energy. Of transmuting all that could drown you, into fuel to reach heights one can only dream of."

–– Suhaib Rumi (b. 1988), United Arab Emirates-born Canadian poet and entrepreneur 

via: Farah M. Siddiq on Instagram, August 26, 2022

Quotes: Diana Vreeland

"The energy of imagination, deliberation and invention – these are the ingredients of style and all who have it share one thing: originality." 

– Diana Vreeland (1903-1989), French-American magazine editor and fashion journalist 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 88 

Quotes: Louise Schouwenberg

"Potential appeals to the imagination of the viewer. Something happens with the mind that goes further than showing a cleverly made object, for which a viewer can only feel admiration, and in the meantime comes to feel like a small clumsy person. You could compare it with looking at good art. It doesn't consume energy, but it produces energy. If you see a clever trick it's usually very tiring. But if you see potential, you are elevated as a viewer." 

–– Louise Schouwenberg (b. 1954), Dutch art and design theorist, writer, educator and former visual artist 

Source: Hella Jongerius. Misfit. p. 37.

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 4

Quotes: Linda Montgomery

"When you do any kind of creative work there is an energy to it. This energy is made up of everything that is you, your personality, your life experience, the books you have read, the things that you are drawn to as a human being. This energy gives the work life and this is what people respond to when they see it. When someone copies you, their work will not have this same life or energy. It will not have the essence of you and consequently it will have a flatness to it." 

–– Linda Montgomery, French-born Canadian illustrator, OCADU professor

Source: August 5, 2010 kerismith.com 

via Sketchbook 11, 2010, p. 149