I did my first painting of my life a year before going to college, where I began studying graphics. My instructors always tried to get me to paint in the more contemporary abstract style, amd move away from my fascination with realism. I saw this as an attempt to stifle my own creative style and steadfastly refused to fall in line. Eventually, my teachers relented. For me, the 1950's were a kind of Golden Age. These were the happy years of my childhood, filled with wonder at the world around me. It is reflected throughout my work in buildings, furniture, and various pre-war knickknacks. If I were, for instance, to paint a computer, it would definitely have a pre-war aesthetic to it.