I'm setting my goals high and I'm working hard. I think that what I'm doing is pretty good. You have to have confidence in yourself, or who will give you a second look? ... You have to believe in yourself.

It's an investment of time. If you want to be good at anything, you have to invest the time and the mental energy to do it. My goal is to make a living being a creative person. ... It's possible. I think it's possible.

Sometimes the paintings decide what they are going to be. That's fun. That means I'll be tapping into something good.

I look for the extraordinary in the ordinary. The shadow is often more interesting than the object itself.

This is a big step for me professionally, and I hope it will help my reputation to grow as a professional artist. This is a tangible result of having a goal.

I know that most of these guys won't be back next year. I've got my goals set pretty high for next year. I'm going to get myself to the finals next year.