I do think that it is one of the eternal questions about art, though - is all art intrinsically selfish?

The motivation to paint seems more pure, or at least more personal, when the artist is doing it for herself.

I did take one drawing class in school, but for this book I spent a lot of time talking to painters and asking them silly questions.

I do think that it is one of the eternal questions about art, though - is all art intrinsically selfish?

At the beginning of the book [The Dissemblers], Ivy [Wilkes] has a long way to go in order to achieve self-sufficiency. Although she is very independent, even somewhat of a loner, she is very affected by other peoples' opinions. At the opening of the book, her ideas of success and achievement are largely defined by the approval of others; over the arc of the story, I think that begins to change a little.

I hope to work through disappointment and frustration with as much grace as [Georgia] O'Keeffe did, and I hope to have the same confidence in my own vision.

I was only loosely aware of [Georgia] O'Keeffe's work. Primarily, I had seen her famous paintings of skulls with flowers, which are not my favorite. I didn't really become familiar with her work until after I started writing the book, but the more I learned about her the more I admired her.