Being a painter is not a choice. It is not a chosen profession. Painting is a compulsion. It is a need like breathing or eating. In fact it regularly supersedes both. There is no choice in whether or not I will paint only the when and often not even that. Away from the studio I think about the canvas that sits there unfinished, calling me, challenging me, maddening me. I am a painter. "If someone can talk you out of painting, they should!" Chuck Close