One of the first questions to bubble up within me early in my art training was this very question about originality. My teacher straightened right up, crossed his arms, and said with powerful, quiet confidence, ” there is nothing new, just the history we don’t know”. Fifteen years later, I agree only in part with that. But, that thought had a big impact on me as a person. I liked the poem.

Karen: I’m fairly sure that “steal” is for effect. It is a much stronger word than “learn” — good or bad.

Janice: I do think you can be inspired by others’ art, but there is a time to go inside yourself. Just don’t cut yourself off. I find that those who cut themselves off are the ones thinking that they’re the only ones with original ideas — mostly because they don’t know about what’s already out there.