I think a lot of people do big movies not because they are talented artists but because they can function in the circumstances.

I've just finished my 20th book this past year and I'm working on my 21st book about the Middle East right now that I'll finish this year. And I get up early in the morning and when I get tired of the computer and tired of doing research I walk 20 steps out to my woodshop and I either build furniture or paint paintings. I'm an artist too.

At one time there were voiceover artists now there are celebrity voiceover artists. It's unfortunate because these people need the money less than the voiceover artist.

That is why the analogy of stealing does not work. With a thief we want to know how much money he stole and from whom. With the artist it is not how much he took and from whom but what he did with it.

In the seventies a group of American artists seized the means not of production but of reproduction. They tore apart visual culture at a time of no money no market and no one paying attention except other artists. Vietnam and Watergate had happened everything in America was being questioned.

One argument goes that recessions are good for female artists because when money flies out the window women are allowed in the house. The other claims that when money ebbs so do prospects for women.

Some artists are working to buy the mansion or whatever the element of fame must bear but I spend all my money on my show.

Everyone in my family is an artist. Both my parents are painters and my mom's an opera singer. I was never shown any other way to process life.

My dad is a lawyer and my mom is an artist. So growing up was exactly what it sounds like - strict household but a lot of creativity. They are so psyched that I get to make music for a living. My parents rule.

I hope that through my work artists will take some chances break some rules and make art that comes from inside of them. I would like to be remembered as a kind person a great Mom and a bit unruly - in a good way!