Q: Except for four years in the Army, you've been a working artist all your life. Did you ever consider a different profession?

A: No. I was born with natural talent. But I was a product of the Depression. Everything was hopeless. There was no way you could plan a future as an artist. But I got four years of school from the G.I. Bill and that made the difference.

Q: What do you enjoy about working with a large canvas?

A: The main factor in doing a large painting is you have to consider it is going to be seen from different distances. Up close it could be a maze of paint, but then as you step back, the whole thing comes into focus. You've got to step back and consider it from all different possibilities. It's quite a challenge.

Q: What intrigued you about this commission?

A: The thing that was most compelling was the fact that the top poker players all came. Bobby Baldwin arranged it and Lyle Berman, Chip Reese, Doyle Brunson, and Chau Giang all sat around the table and were pretty easygoing. By the time I finished my sketches, the big game had started.

Q: What are you working on now to keep your work interesting and fresh?

A: Jazz figures. It's highly personal and goes back to my early days out of art school in the `50s. I was young and it was a very exciting time, and now I've started to go around to these clubs and draw this stuff again. It's historic to me. Something has to mean a lot to you in order to really go into it... that's what keeps you going.