How did you get into art and animation?
I did animation in the '50s and '60s, I did it for a little over 10 years. I got into it deliberately because it offered me an opportunity to use my talents for financial gains - in other words, to survive. I was looking for a way to utilize my art and make a living for me and family.

You applied to work with Disney. Did your style just not fit in there?
That was actually my first attempt to try and get a position there at Disney. As far as I understood things, I didn't make the grade. It's probably because later on in the animation industry I discovered that they only hire during certain times when they have projects. When they're not hiring, no matter how good you are when you come or how promising your work looks, they don't have a position for you anyway.

Since animation is seasonal, what other work did you do?
I did illustration too, for newspaper ads, magazine ads - I worked in that area. I guess that was my primary thing; I was raised to take advantage of my talents. I looked for areas where I could be used. One of those places was the advertising agencies and I would go to animation studios. I would go any place where my work might be utilized, so I picked up on a number of jobs.

So did your printmaking business grow as a more stable way to support your family?
You hit the nail on the head - that was it. That was the reason I decided, along with my wife Dorothy who is a major contributor to my work (she's also an artist), to try to seek work in this area. We were looking for a more steady form of income, something that was more dependent on me than on a studio that may or may not hire me. I was getting independence.

What inspires you?
One of the things that inspire me is the potential of making a living at art. The idea of doing something that was gratifying to me - I never considered doing anything else besides making graphic statements. The artists that were influential in my development where many. I was especially interested in Matisse; I admired what Picasso was doing. One of my favorites was Ben Shahn - I loved his art and I still do. I thought he was an astonishing creator.

Tell me about your African art collection.
When I was at the gallery I would deal with these traders from Africa who would offer me merchandise. I thought these primitive pieces had such a character that was stimulating and exciting to me. Ninety percent of the art is emotion, 10 percent is the actual object. I have boxes of that stuff put away, they are part of my legacy.

I heard your house is a work of art itself. What was the construction process like?
When it was time to look for a place to live, I found that places we could afford were uncomfortable, very plastic. I decided I would make my own residence, so I sat down and started designing a house. I bought a lot here in Highland Park for less than $1,000 at an auction. Building was a family affair, and I basically built the house myself. What a professional would do it in one day would take me a week, but I was creating a custom hand-made job and I think the house shows that. It was an art project that went on for many years; it's my longest work - changing, building and adding. I only finished the house when I could no longer do the work.

Most kids now are watching computer animated cartoons-are they missing out on anything?
Well, I as an artist - my interest was not in cartooning. I was in the graphics that came along with the cartooning-the backgrounds, but I did some characters.

Are you still making a lot of art?
I make breakfast in the morning. I like to go out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. Sometimes I make marks on the napkin and Dorothy collects them and brings them home and prints them up. I'm not involved at this time in image making, I have another project: to keep healthy, keep moving and keep my interest in things-politics, whatever. Keep myself alive.

Well that's a fair focus!
Printmaking took a lot of strength, mostly emotional strength, and a lot of that is gone. I'm not as physically able as I was at that time, so my interest now is to utilize the art I did.