I do not like the idea of happiness - it is too momentary - I would say that I was always busy and interested in something - interest has more meaning to me than the idea of happiness.

I've been afraid every single day of my life, but I've gone ahead and done it anyway.

I believe an artist is the last person in the world who can afford to be affected.

I hate flowers - I paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move.

My painting is what I have to give back to the world for what the world gives to me.

I think it's so foolish for people to want to be happy. Happy is so momentary--you're happy for an instant and then you start thinking again. Interest is the most important thing in life; happiness is temporary, but interest is continuous.

I know I can not paint a flower, I can not paint the sun on the desert on a bright summer morning but maybe in terms of paint colour I can convey to you my experience of the flower or the experience that makes the flower of significance to me at that particular time.