The likeness of the thing is received into the intellect according to the mode of the intellect, not according to the mode of the the thing.

St. Thomas Aquinas. SUMMA THEOLOGICA. quoted by Bryan Berry, Henry James and the Heavenly Light.

Being an artist — living creatively — is not about paintings in a gallery, songs on a soundtrack, or books on the bestseller lists. It is about seeing and hearing and going; it is about saying and making. 

The calling is comprehensive, and it calls for observations that become expressions that become innovations, illuminations, improvisations, inspirations...

Kim Thomas. Creativity, Artful Living as Callling.