Q. What was the most challenging experience for you
as a kid, and how did you handle it?
I was sent to a boarding school ... not unlike ... the boarding school in
the Harry Potter movies, but without the magic, of course. That's an English
tradition. You'd be away from home for two or three months at a time ... I
missed my family a lot. It probably made me self-reliant and independent,
which may have helped me later in life.
Q. When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
It sort of happened almost by accident. I was given some paint for my
birthday. You know how you have those sets of oil paints with the paint by
numbers painting. . . I think I was about vine. I didn't think this thing
was going to look like a painting, like a ship in the end, or a galleon. And
it sure did. That fanned my interest.
Q. How does your creative process work?
For me, the creative process is drawing something [out] from behind the
veil ... and making it appear on the canvas ... I'll draw an abstract with
varied shape, and I'll put it on the wall. I'11 look at it for a long time.
I'll go and do something else, and I might just pass by it and look at it,
and then I suddenly see a shape, a horse shape in there ... Then once you've
made one step forward, it's much easier to continue ... It's jumped out of
the canvas, or it's jumped from the invisible realm into this realm. Then I
nurture it and nurture it. And I don't project my ideas on it. I'm more into
nurturing something that I believe is already there.
Q. What advice do you have for kids who want to be
artists?
Well, the dictionary definition of talent ... is it's a gift from God. We
need to develop that gift if we have it .. . In a way, you can be artistic
in anything you do. If you really want to be an artist ... you have to study
hard, and keep on going .. . There are three aspects to being a successful
artist. One is to have a vision. That can be your specific way of saying
something new. ... Then number two, you have to develop your technique, or
develop a way of expressing that vision ... You have to find the medium
that's most suited for you ... And then the third thing is marketing. You
have to find your audience for that product that you make ... Go and set up
[your work] and show what it is you've done.
Q. Why
do you think we should develop our creativity?
We live a better life when we cultivate the creative side of our nature.
We form better relationships with each other, even in times of difficulty.
... I think that creativity ... is warm and positive ... If you cultivate
the creative side of your nature ... when you meet [people], they will
respond to that. It opens up the doors of opportunity.
Q. If you had one wish for Brilliant Star readers,
what would it be?
I read ... Brilliant Star to my children all the time, and as I say to
them, don't compare your life or your situation with anyone else's ...
Follow your dreams. And if you don't have one yet, don't worry. It will come
to you in time. There's an invisible force all around us, trying to help us,
so just do the best you can in everything you do.
