When I was at Sarah Lawrence, I was interested in ancient writing and mark making. There was a very clear correlation between these and a child’s first marks on paper today. I saw a universal, deep, and pure understanding in children that corresponds to an ancient and natural way of life. I was also interested to see that children around the world, no matter what culture, when they first use a writing tool, make the same marks. People are essentially born the same.

Now that I have had my own children, I have had the privilege of being around children making art. I have been lucky to spend time in my children’s classrooms and to use their drawings for charity projects or sometimes for my own art. It is such an inspiration to see and use the pictures they make of themselves and the world around them.

I hope that my children have a nice safe sense of home and the world and life. I try to make it orderly and simple, to teach my children to believe in happy and good. It is important to perpetuate that feeling because childhood is the foundation for our reality as adults. If I can encourage this view of life, I hopefully can keep at bay the disquieting and stressful reality of what it is to be alive.