Old King Cole

"This is one of my favorite paintings. I played with the ideas of a king, a pipe and a bowl. Of course, I first thought of the king of the jungle. I didn't want a pipe that had anything to do with tobacco but I also didn't want to change it into a pan pipe or anything similar. My memory went back to childhood and a bubble-blowing pipe. That idea led naturally to the bowl of bubble mixture . . . although I was tempted by the idea of a cheerful-looking cereal bowl.

"Happily, I was able to include all my preferences and not in an obvious way. Then it was a matter of getting the boy's expression right and researching all the appropriate parts of the town behind them. I think it's one of my sunniest and best-balanced works."