“Art is a great generosity, that is my definition. It is giving everything of yourself. When I am finished painting, I am exhausted because I have given it all I have. I was black and lived in Paris in former lives. I was raised on the Bible and Oscar Wilde and have had too many miracles happen in my life not to be spiritual. My grandmother and aunt raised me and growing up in a female household was the best thing in the world for me. My family, the Altmans came over in a covered wagon from South Carolina with books and a bed and put education above everything. They encouraged education for all people, including blacks and women, and for us to have differing opinions. That was unusual in the South at that time. I am not a fearful person and I am not afraid to say what I want to say. If people don’t agree, that is okay. I am like Virginia Woolf, ‘I don’t care what you do in bed as long as you don’t scare the horses.’ 65 years is a long time to paint. I am blessed to have so much support and a rich, layered life with a diversity of friends. I have given it all I have and life is the only thing that gives you something to say.”