I Just Wanted To Do Something Important.

The Balopticon [a Machine That Projects Photos On Canvas To Trace The Lines] Is An Evil, Inartistic, Habit-forming, Lazy And Vicious Machine! It Also Is A Useful, Time-saving, Practical And Helpful One. I Use One Often-and Am Thoroughly Ashamed Of It. I Hide It Whenever I Hear People Coming.

The Story Is The First Thing And The Last Thing.

My Best Efforts Were Some Modern Things That Looked Like Very Lousy Matisses. Thank God I Had The Sense To Realize They Were Lousy, And Leave Paris.

Some Folks Think I Painted Lincoln From Life, But I Haven't Been Around That Long. Not Quite.

Very Interesting For An Old Duffer Like Me To Try His Hand At Something New. If I Don't Do That Once In A While, I Might Just Turn Into A Fossil, You Know!