---
title: "2 Art Is Dangerous Quotes By David Bayles"
description: "2 Art Is Dangerous quotes by David Bayles. Plus more from David Bayles and more Art Is Dangerous sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/david-bayles-13995_art_making-art-can-feel-dangerous-and-reveal_1797020.jpg"
---

> [“Making art can feel dangerous and revealing. Making art is dangerous and revealing. Making art precipitates self-doubt, stirring deep waters that lay between what you know you should be, and what you fear you might be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/making-art-can-feel-dangerous-and-revealing-making-art-is-dangerous/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/david-bayles-13995_art_making-art-can-feel-dangerous-and-reveal_1797020.jpg)

> [“The desire to make art begins early. Among the very young this is encouraged (or at least indulged as harmless) but the push toward a 'serious' education soon exacts a heavy toll on dreams and fantasies…Yet for some the desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/the-desire-to-make-art-begins-early-among-the-very-young-this-is/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ea/david-bayles-13995_art_the-desire-to-make-art-begins-early-amon_2168547.jpg)

## More by David Bayles

> [The seed of your next artwork lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/the-seed-of-your-next-artwork-lies-embedded-in-the-imperfections-of/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [The seed of your next artwork lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece. Such imperfections are your guides - valuable, objective, non-judgmental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/the-seed-of-your-next-artwork-lies-embedded-in-the-imperfections-of-2/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“But the important point here is not that you have — or don’t have — what other artists have, but rather that it doesn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/but-the-important-point-here-is-not-that-you-have-or-don-t-have-what/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“In essence, art lies embedded in the conceptual leap between pieces, not in the pieces themselves. And simply put, there’s a greater conceptual jump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/in-essence-art-lies-embedded-in-the-conceptual-leap-between-pieces/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“But while mastering technique is difficult and time-consuming, it’s still inherently easier to reach an already defined goal — a “right answer” — than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/but-while-mastering-technique-is-difficult-and-time-consuming-it-s/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“There were counter-protests, of course, and in the end Mapplethorpe’s work was exhibited, but the message to the arts community was clear: stray too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/there-were-counter-protests-of-course-and-in-the-end-mapplethorpe-s/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [Tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/tolerance-for-uncertainty-is-the-prerequisite-to-succeeding/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [Art is a high calling - fears are coincidental. Coincidental, sneaky and disruptive, we might add, disguising themselves variously as laziness, resistance to deadlines,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/art-is-a-high-calling-fears-are-coincidental-coincidental-sneaky-and/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“Sometimes to see your work’s rightful place you have to walk to the edge of the precipice and search the deep chasms. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/sometimes-to-see-your-work-s-rightful-place-you-have-to-walk-to-the/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“Fears arise when you look back, and they arise when you look ahead. If you're prone to disaster fantasies, you may even find yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/fears-arise-when-you-look-back-and-they-arise-when-you-look-ahead-if/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“But is the Mona Lisa really art? Well then, what about an undetectably perfect copy of the Mona Lisa? That comparison (however sneaky) points…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/but-is-the-mona-lisa-really-art-well-then-what-about-an-undetectably/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [The hardest part of art-making is living your life in such a way that your work gets done-over and over-and that means, among other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/the-hardest-part-of-art-making-is-living-your-life-in-such-a-way-that/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“In making art you need to give yourself room to respond authentically, both to your subject matter and to your materials. Art happens between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/in-making-art-you-need-to-give-yourself-room-to-respond-authentically/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“Uncertainty is the essential, inevitable and all-pervasive companion to your desire to make art. And tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/uncertainty-is-the-essential-inevitable-and-all-pervasive-companion/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

> [“HENRY JAMES once proposed three questions you could productively put to an artist’s work. The first two were disarmingly straightforward: What was the artist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/henry-james-once-proposed-three-questions-you-could-productively-put/)

[David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is-dangerous/david-bayles/#itemlist",
            "name": "2 Art Is Dangerous Quotes By David Bayles",
            "numberOfItems": 2,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Making art can feel dangerous and revealing. Making art is dangerous and revealing. Making art precipitates self-doubt, stirring deep waters that lay between what you know you should be, and what you fear you might be.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "David Bayles"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/making-art-can-feel-dangerous-and-revealing-making-art-is-dangerous/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/david-bayles-13995_art_making-art-can-feel-dangerous-and-reveal_1797020.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/david-bayles-13995_art_making-art-can-feel-dangerous-and-reveal_1797020.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/david-bayles-13995_art_making-art-can-feel-dangerous-and-reveal_1797020.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Making art can feel dangerous and revealing. Making art is dangerous and revealing. Making art precipitates…” — David Bayles",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“The desire to make art begins early. Among the very young this is encouraged (or at least indulged as harmless) but the push toward a 'serious' education soon exacts a heavy toll on dreams and fantasies…Yet for some the desire persists, and sooner or later must be addressed. And with good reason: your desire to make art -- beautiful or meaningful or emotive art -- is integral to your sense of who you are. Life and Art, once entwined, can quickly become inseparable; at age ninety Frank Lloyd Wright was still designing, Imogen Cunningham still photographing, Stravinsky still composing, Picasso still painting. But if making art gives substance to your sense of self, the corresponding fear is that you're not up to the task -- that you can't do it, or can't do it well, or can't do it again; or that you're not a real artist, or not a good artist, or have no talent, or have nothing to say. The line between the artist and his/her work is a fine one at best, and for the artist it feels (quite naturally) like there is no such line. Making art can feel dangerous and revealing. Making art is dangerous and revealing. Making art precipitates self-doubt, stirring deep waters that lay between what you know you should be, and what you fear you might be. For many people, that alone is enough to prevent their ever getting started at all -- and for those who do, trouble isn't long in coming. Doubts, in fact, soon rise in swarms: \"I am not an artist -- I am a phony. I have nothing worth saying. I'm not sure what I'm doing. Other people are better than I am. I'm only a [student/physicist/mother/whatever]. I've never had a real exhibit. No one understands my work. No one likes my work. I'm no good. Yet viewed objectively, these fears obviously have less to do with art than they do with the artist. And even less to do with the individual artworks. After all, in making art you bring your highest skills to bear upon the materials and ideas you most care about. Art is a high calling -- fears are coincidental. Coincidental, sneaky and disruptive, we might add, disguising themselves variously as laziness, resistance to deadlines, irritation with materials or surroundings, distraction over the achievements of others -- indeed anything that keeps you from giving your work your best shot. What separates artists from ex-artists is that those who challenge their fears, continue; those who don't, quit. Each step in the artmaking process puts that issue to the test.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "David Bayles"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/the-desire-to-make-art-begins-early-among-the-very-young-this-is/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ea/david-bayles-13995_art_the-desire-to-make-art-begins-early-amon_2168547.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ea/david-bayles-13995_art_the-desire-to-make-art-begins-early-amon_2168547.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ea/david-bayles-13995_art_the-desire-to-make-art-begins-early-amon_2168547.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The desire to make art begins early. Among the very young this is encouraged (or at least indulged as…” — David Bayles",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is-dangerous/david-bayles/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is-dangerous/david-bayles/",
            "name": "Art Is Dangerous Quotes by David Bayles",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is-dangerous/david-bayles/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/david-bayles-13995_art_making-art-can-feel-dangerous-and-reveal_1797020.jpg"
            },
            "description": "2 Art Is Dangerous quotes by David Bayles. Plus more from David Bayles and more Art Is Dangerous sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is-dangerous/david-bayles/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is-dangerous/david-bayles/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Art Is Dangerous",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is-dangerous/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "David Bayles",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is-dangerous/david-bayles/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
