Nuno Pedrosa Critique

He was smoking a cigarette out in the yard, and looked apologetic when i approached. I didnt have anything prepared to say exactly, but i had some work set out to look at.
His general demeanor was very polite, he held the door for me, and kept apologizing sort of when he would say something. Or rather, he would correct himself, or say conditional statements, or would say he had just contradicted himself.
However, he made some concrete suggestions. Such as, making a bit of an effort to focus my work a little. He suggested that it would lend strength to what I did, and would possibly help me to survive in the art world. He was pretty down on the art world in general, he said it was full of storms. He said that the most important thing was to have self-confidence. That if you can stand and say something to people, maybe with a smile...
He also mentioned that possibly i would like to be a clever artist, one who plays with others' expectations.
He liked my drawings- particularly the one on made paper that was more decorative than anything- as in, flat surfaces covered in imagery... But he also said the yarn one was good, and he liked the four color prints- though he mentioned it had been done before (which he said while smiling and looking again a bit bashful)- so that maybe i would not want to do it.
he mentioned doing new things, or of staying within a tradition. he said maybe they were the same.
he said i had the skills, it was just a matter of deciding now what i wanted to do. he suggested i might want to go to grad school. he said to do more drawings like the two he really liked.
he gave me a name of an artist to look at: Benjamin Degen. he thinks i might like looking at him.