Music and art are two very different activities for me. However, the use of imagery links them, and invention is important for both.

The issue of innovation never interested me personally, since I believe it may lead to a place where people don't paint anymore.

My work as a painter has always been tied to Modernism. I read everything I could find related to art, from Paul Cézanne through the 1950s.

I'm a New Yorker. I like the big streets and the big buildings. It's a great place to walk.

I have enjoyed teaching most of the times that I have done it. I also like being by myself and making things and performing, so much that if I hadn't needed an income I probably wouldn't have done much teaching. Having said that, I think working with others, having to come up with art projects, and learning how to present your ideas in a clear way, to adults and/or kids is always interesting and rewarding.

What interests me is all the stuff that goes into abstract and abstract-figurative art. Not the styles, but the stuff that, in various combinations, make the styles: mixing and matching painting methods and ideas.

It's hard to say what exactly I like about New York. It's so vast. It seems to go on and on, but that's an illusion. Still, it's fun to be here, especially since I don't drive.