More Q&A From the U.K.

Here are two more of the very interesting questions I was recently asked by Cross Stitch Collection Magazine, along with my answers:

When’s the last time you looked at a piece of artwork and thought “I wish I’d done that” and what was it?

I enjoy the brilliant paintings of Lawrence Alma-Tadema, (pictured) and was dumb struck recently to discover that he often imported the flowers needed for his subjects from southern France and other places. And this was in the 19th century when transporting fresh flowers was not so easy to do. I love the idea of painting in a studio filled with fresh flowers. Today it is too easy for artists to take a snapshot and leave the flowers behind. I love painting from live subjects, and so when I see Alma-Tadema’s paintings of flowers, I always wish I could have had the chance to be that leisurely in my work habits and to paint all those flowers from life.

Which designer or artist influences you the most and why?

Walt Disney. Though many would consider him more of a cartoonist or moviemaker than an artist, to me Disney achieved the greatest thing an artist can achieve: he passionately created his own fantasy visions of the world and then made them highly attractive to people. Disney once said that he desired to create “the happiest place on earth”. Perhaps my goal as an artist is to create “the happiest place on canvas”.