It seems to me that the art of painting must be one of the most difficult forms of art there is - though I hasten to add they are all difficult. How many truly great works are produced in this medium per century, let alone per annum - particularly considering the miles of canvas that receives its quota of expensive pigment each year? It has to be admittedly, mighty few. I have personally witnessed an artist whose early etchings rank with those of Rembrandt, and who was in his day one of the most sought after English portrait painter, banging his head with his fist and moaning over and over again "my work is not good enough, my work is not good enough! And indeed stories of artists similarly expressing this sort of despair are innumerable. I have personally acted out that scene, but perhaps the knowledge that one's work is not good enough is the very thing that keeps one on a tether to one's easel for six hours or so a day! It is a privilege to be an artist and I am fortunate in this respect.
