No one ever ordered anything from me. I painted because I wanted to.

In a legal sense, I am a convicted criminal.

For the cynic, art is defined through money. That, of course, is a very sad statement. But an artist is someone who does creative things.

I never decided to become an art forger. I was aware of my talent at an early age, and I used it foolishly. This developed over the years. In my heart, I don't see myself as a criminal.

I lived on a houseboat in Amsterdam for a year. It was intense, and it's possible that I even had a few blackouts.

Every philharmonic orchestra merely interprets the composer. My goal was to create new music by that composer. In doing so, I wanted to find the painter's creative center and become familiar with it, so that I could see through his eyes how his paintings came about and, of course, see the new picture I was painting through his eyes - before I even painted it.

I wouldn't be ashamed to sell my own art for a lot of money.