I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life - and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.

I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty.

When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.

I wish people were all trees and I think I could enjoy them then.

I look at my work and make up my mind about it. After that, neither flattery nor criticism matters 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.

It was all so far away - there was quiet and an untouched feel to the country and I could work as I pleased.