I love to travel because then I like to come home. If I didn't travel, I would hate it here. I don't like the winters, and I think that I'm mostly here because I like my job. I always go at least one place during the year. I do a lot of research on roadside shrines in different cultures, so that's my little excuse for traveling, I go around and document these. A lot of my inspiration came from shrines in Mexico and India, and so forth.

I can't live without sky. I just spent a week in New York. It's very stimulating. You can get a lot of ideas and wonderful exchange of ideas. And I thought, I'd love to live in New York for one maybe two, maybe three months out of the year. But I couldn't bear to have just a postage stamp for a sky. And if I had my druthers, I would live in a house on the top of a hill where I could see the sunrise and the sunset. So, it has to do with space and the variety of seasons.

I think one cannot deny the fact that living in Iowa does keep you away from many exhibiting possibilities. It doesn't exclude you entirely, because certainly I have shown a lot nationally. But you have to make a concerted effort to get that done.

I think making art, there is a certain dynamic, an energy that feeds you, and if your life is too easy and things are too mellow, we settle into a big easy chair of life. Iowa is wonderful for allowing such a pleasant life. But at the same time, an artist needs to be edged and nudged and pushed around a little bit. I've tried to balance that with leaving-coming and going, and traveling. It's always wonderful to come home to Iowa. I love Iowa. This summer I have enjoyed the landscape of Iowa so much. It has been so beautiful to me this summer. It's a wonderful place to live.