Question: Do I need to make the same painting over and over again to be successful?

I think being true to yourself also means having some kind of internal creative north star that you can return to and always find a way to nurture.

I’m a pretty firm believer that pleasure is a way of organizing your mind. In some ways, creativity is like meditation.

I just came in and was like, “Yeah, I don’t know, I was making these paintings in my basement and I’m just gonna keep making them, even though they suck right now and hope that they’ll just get better.”

It feels to me like I’m only at the beginning and there’s still a lot to discuss and process within the realms of painting. In this life, I wouldn’t even have the time to work in other media. And in my next life I’d like to be a horse.

Many artists and similar minded people come visit me, like you guys. Many gallery people come visit, too, but most of them don’t understand these kinds of things. I’d be open to talk to a gallery about doing something if there was someone who understood me, but there hasn’t been anyone so far [laughs].

Staying really alert to the unknown, not faking it, but really being in an awkward situation where you do not know what’s going to happen, is crucial. You need to not just do that in terms of the materials, but you also have to do it in terms of the concept.

I liked painting with oils, but it didn’t connect to me as a material that made sense for any of my concerns. I was looking for something that made more sense to me personally, not historically.

My flower paintings are very popular and I receive many commissions for this work. To be honest, I can get bored so I need to step away and look for other things to be inspired by before returning to the flowers.