we have no Art, we do everything well

he says, purple is not a color
and other interactions with the painting professor

He has told me to put an edge onto this saucer I'm painting: "It's not paper thin, is it? Now just stop being obstinate!" So, I have painted this edge, and he looks at me over the easel, "Now, is it a wobbly, shaky edge or a machined straight edge?" Me, "Uh, I don't know, but I'm not a machine, so..." He sighs. "Well, that's a good answer."

And I told you he is always warning us against the art world. He just walks around the room, not shouting, but definitely, pronouncements: "You're set up to have an awful awful life, and the only thing you'll have is your art! 'Sorry dear, we aren't having dinner tonight because we just bought a tube of cadmium red.' And people will pass you on the street, smile, and you'll just scowl because 'Do you know how I'm going to fix this painting?'"

Some kid calls him the Color Surgeon:
Him, "Why yes, I like to think of myself as a surgeon."
Some other kid, "But in surgery there's no going back. You can ruin a body, but you can never ruin a painting, right?"
Him, "Oh, it's just a person. What's another person? But a painting! A great painting..."