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When I paint, silence is one of the most important factors to me. It helps me to stay focused. I’ve learned that I don’t like to workin a group of artists. I found it very distracting to hear them talking about kids, food and so on while painting… I need to be myselfin complete silence – something even my beloved dog understands! Of course, he might just be afraid of getting splatteredwith paint, since during the first stage of painting I work very fast, applying bold colors without concern for boundaries. Delicatestrokes come later on.I cultivate intuition. It is the ability to perceive and understand without conscious effort. I believe that if we cultivate our intuitionwe will ultimately strengthen our mind, body and spirit through holistic awareness. When I paint I know exactly when I need tostop because my intuition tells me that the painting is finished.Intuition is a natural source of wisdom that resides within each person. When I start the creative process I open myself to allpossibilities, I’m open to experimentation. I believe that there is no risk in the creative process. If you are not satisfied with yourcreation, you simply continue to create until you reach the point when you are mesmerized with what appears in front of youreyes. There is no failure, only feedback.As well as the first, intuitive stage, there is the second stage which relies on imagination, a gift I have inherited from my mother,whose ability to paint without sketches always fascinated me.I like my paintings to be a combination of bold, aggressive strokes and delicate, gentle, intricate detail. The colors in my paintingsare a combination of bright and happy colors with more sober blues. It reflects how life is a combination of joy and sorrow. Wehave both thunderstorms and times of beauty when we can enjoy the blossoming of flowers.Many artists have difficulty making time for their work. How do you deal with this challenge?Time is priceless. I have become very selective in how I spend it. I believe that even if an artist is extremely busy doing manydifferent things in life, a real artist would always find time for creating art because for an artist, art is a passion and a burningdesire.For me it is like air to breathe, it is my excitement and a guiding purpose in my life. Even if I’m very tired from running errandsduring the daytime, when the evening comes I can’t wait to stand in front of a canvas and start to paint. And my tiredness graduallygoes away. I feel rested and rejuvenated. I never feel tired when creating art. Mostly I feel tired when I do nothing. It feels tome to be a complete waste of precious time. This is the reason that I don’t like long, passive vacations. After three days of lyingon the beach I become restless and want to return to my studio to paint. If you feel that time is precious, I think you are carefulto use it well, to make every moment count.Have you always painted using the same techniques you use today?No, not at all. When I studied art in the Academy of Art in Vilnius, Lithuania, we were required to follow the rules of Social Realism.At that point I used mainly oil paint. It was not until I came to America that I learned how to work with acrylics and createabstract works. Only then could I begin to express myself as an artist without limitations.I love to work with acrylics because of the fluidity it gives, the possibilities it provides for varying textures and the speed at whichit dries. All this means that I can work very fast and apply many layers of paint, creating a 3D impression. I work fast because Iam driven by curiosity. I can’t wait to see what comes to my canvas from the Universe this time! I call my paintings ‘Deliveriesfrom the Universe.’How has your life experience affected your work?I grew up under the Soviet Union, in Lithuania. I dreamed from a young age about escape, and finding freedom, like the slavemother with her baby in her arms in the novel ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ by Harriet Beecher Stowe. She jumps from one piece of slipperyice to another to cross the fast river, so that she can get herself and her child to the other side, where freedom awaits. Thisvision helped me develop the courage and determination I needed to get out, so that my own son would not have to grow up aSoviet citizen, crushed in an environment of suppression. Getting to America was a long journey, but I made it in the end.My background continued to have some influence over me, though. I avoided using the color red for years, because of its associationsfor me. I loved pink, because it was a color rarely seen where I grew up. My appreciation of strong colors is, I think,partly due to their rarity when I was growing up, and they are now an important part of my work.From my life experience I strongly believe that we can achieve whatever we want in our lives if we do not give up and continue tomove toward our goals, despite difficulties. We must always hold on to a Hope, which is there even for those who do not believein it. These positive thoughts have been an influence on one of my recent paintings, “The Ray of Hope.”21 ARTisSpectrum