I'm a member of the George Jones fan club, and I'm a member of U2's fan club.
It's destiny! Perhaps it is the energy that pulls on the threads and, well, I'm just leaving it as it is meant to be.
It was a great test of my ability to work with. . . watercolors. And it was also a test of my patience; I needed to put myself in a completely disciplined position. . . I couldn't make mistakes.
To me, watercolor is a Western medium, so when I feel like I am using a Western manner I will use English to sign my name.
I had serious training of painting styles from different historical periods. . . But to have all this training is not enough to be an artist. You have to add a new page to history; otherwise you are not making a contribution. But making history is not easy.
At that time, I was still in an experimental stage, trying to blend Western drawing techniques and Chinese brushwork together. It was harder for me back then. . . But that piece is special and important, because it represents vigilance and innocence; the kind of precious innocence only present at the beginning of a new artistic exploration.
It is not about surpassing the masters who preceded us but more about opening new artistic vistas. It is about doing the things they didn't have a chance or the time to do.
One thing they don't tell you about growing old - you don't feel old, you just feel like yourself. And it's true. I don't feel eighty-nine years old. I simply am eighty-nine years old.
I'm a really stoic artist. I'm serious a lot of times. I can joke and play sometimes, but most of the time, I'm stoic.
I sit down to the piano regularly at nine-o'clock in the morning and Mesdames les Muses have learned to be on time for that rendezvous.
I suppose if I had to give a one-word answer to the question of why I read, that word would be pleasure. The kind of pleasure you can get from reading is like no other in the world.