I finished a wonderful book about Don Van Vliet called "Captain Beefheart" by Mike Barnes and being a huge Beefheart fan this was a very interesting book. To be honest, I found out things about Don that I'm not sure I even wanted to know. I feel both sorry for and jealous of the musicians he worked with. The book is full of little mind bogging quotes by Don all worth a blog each but one that I did write down was this:
"[Don Van Vliet] told John Yau what painting was to him: 'Fulfilling the absence of space between the opposite meanings. I think that's essentially what I think. That came the other night. It cam blasting into my head. I quickly wrote it down. Yes, that's what painting is.'"
I've thought about it a bit too now and although I don't have to agree or disagree I think it's a very good answer.