Is it faith in yourself, or something else, like a higher power?

Well, I think when you have faith in yourself you are simultaneously having faith in a greater power. If we are all part of an interactive connected universe, which is what I believe, then as we listen to the still small voice which is another way of saying the intuition, the hunch, the leading — which are all things that artists must pay close attention to. We are in effect listening to the Great Creator. We can believe we are being self-reliant and independent and yet there is still clearly an overarching destiny, a great maker. So when we say we have faith in ourselves we cannot really separate the small self from the large self.

You say that making art is not an act of the mind or the intellect, but of the heart and the soul.

Yes, and I want to be clear about that. We have a culture that is very competitive and also very product-oriented. And artists live within this culture so there is a tendency to advise artists to think about shrewd career moves and consider the odds and pursue an artistic unfolding much the way someone would climb a corporate ladder.

However, the reality is that, again, if we are living in an interactive and essentially a benevolent universe — and that in itself is a leap of faith for a lot of people — then it comes back down to the idea that every time we make a piece of art we are in fact having a spiritual experience. — Beliefnet.com