One of the great things about collecting contemporary art is that you mix with contemporary people.

One of the great things about collecting contemporary art is that you mix with contemporary people.

I can't draw. I can't paint. But what I can do is tell somebody else what to do. I'm a creator. I can tell an artist what to do. I can be behind the artist. I have the eye, so I can move things around. I can put stones together. I can match them.

Art is like an avalanche being poured down your throat. You know it's going to crack, eventually it's going to go out of fashion. I wish there was much less happening. I wish there were fewer art dealers. I wish there were fewer auctions. I wish there were just two auctions a year.

I was always a little bit of a collector and a hoarder. And whenever I got involved in anything, whatever it was - even when I was a kid and I collected cigarette cards - I really got into it and had the most. So when it came to paintings, once I got the bug, I always wanted to buy something. But I really knew nothing about art.

I went to a job and sat down as a proper apprentice, learning how to make jewelry. It involved a lot of remodeling and repairing. It was a bad time in England in those days and people didn't have much money - they would repair a ring rather than buy a new one. They would thicken up the gold. I learned all the ways to make something look new again.

Collecting contemporary art I started with some of the younger artists. Although, having a son who's an artist, I was hesitant-I think he was a little anxious when I bought another young man's work. But it might have encouraged him in the long run.