I like to listen to a lot of classical music when I'm painting, the most simplistic stuff I can find. I like simple piano.

Sometimes I just want to sit and write at a clean table and not get paint all over my hands.

Painting can be like poetry but as somebody who creates both I feel the necessity for both so they cant be that similar. Sometimes I think it's as basic as not wanting to get dirty.

Painting is a solitary act for me; I don't need anyone around to make paintings.

A lot of my words come to me when I'm out and about as well, riding the bus or sat in the pub. I went through a stage of going to a strip bar called the White Horse at lunch times and did a lot of writing in there. They were fine with that but I don't know how they would feel about me setting up the easel.

Other people's songs can inspire me, though - I always have music on when I'm painting.

I don't really need to be inspired by literature though. At the end of the day it's colour and imagery moved around until it works.