Artist Dick Beasley Quotes:
It is the artist’s need for making choices and his need to interpret ideas and words that make it possible for him to be truly unique. It is the uniqueness and individuality of ideas that distinguishes the artist from the craftsman.
The ultimate goal of the visual artist, it seems to me, is to create visual unity – an agreement among all the parts that says, “We belong to each other.”
We all must be both artists and craftsmen. It is possible for one to be an artist but not a craftsman – great ideas poorly made. It is equally possible for one to be a craftsman but not an artist – beautifully made poor ideas. A person does not choose to enter a discipline because it is called fine art, craft, or graphic design; rather, he enters it because it suits his temperament, his needs. Whether we choose to use the word craftsman or the word artist, both demand equal pedestals because each is only one-half of a total human endeavor.
Every calligrapher, whether untrained or trained as an artist, should be allowed the pleasure and freedom to design beautifully, with simplicity or complexity, and with clear visual images requiring or not requiring words, without feeling inadequate for not following just one direction or tradition in the letter forms.
