 The age old statement that "there are no mistakes in art" is widely misunderstood. The statement is true from certain perspectives but not in the manner that most people use it. Art is a process with a beginning, middle, and an end. Throughout this process you will be making mistakes left and right. A mistake in art (from the artist's perspective) is anything that veers from your intension's. Sometimes when such a mistake occurs you see something in it, and it takes you somewhere other than where you originally intended to go. This is why many people define art as a controlled accident (or mistake). However there are good mistakes and there are bad mistakes, the real art is the ability to tell them apart.
When you are painting or sculpting an accurate portrait of someone and one of the eyes is too small, I think most would agree that this is a bad mistake, and must be fixed. Conversely if you painted or sculpted a brow a little higher than it should be and were surprised to see that it gave your portrait more attitude (without interfering with anatomical possibility) you may wish to go with the mistake, and actually add to it. There is a wide range between these two examples but you can see that one of these mistakes is a real mistake, and the other mistake is something that you will take credit for (don't worry I won't tell).
 Another way to look at this statement is- every mistake that you make in your artistic career is an opportunity to learn something new, so in the abstract they aren't really mistakes at all. However the only way that you'll learn from your mistakes is when you are able to spot them. I always advise all artists to not throw out their art even when they hate the finished product. Keep a catalogue of all your bad mistakes (and tendency's) and keep them close. If you are able to detach yourself from the fact that you created something you hate, you can learn from it, and avoid doing it again. When you surround yourself with all your bad mistakes- first of all it will keep you humble, but more importantly it will give you something to compare your current projects to. I myself have a tendency to paint portraits too brown, so I keep some of those paintings out while working on a new one. Whenever the painting I'm working on starts to veer towards my bad examples I'm able to get myself back on track much faster than I would if I didn't have these bad examples around. Learn from your bad mistakes rather than denying that they occur or you might repeat them over and over again.
My point in all of this is that there are mistakes in art- If there weren't you wouldn't really have anything to learn. Some mistakes can help you and some can hurt you. Keep the good, fix the bad and learn the difference between the two. How do you tell them apart? Practice.
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