This interview Ken had was awesome to me, both as a patriotic person and an artist myself.
I was recently doing some digital enhancements on damaged/smoked paintings for a client who has original european paintings from when the French rushed artists in to document what the cityscapes looked like before the Nazis destroyed those cities ... and that experience reminded me just how critical Mr. Mumford's work is to our generation!

There are countless works of art I turn to for solace. These provide me, not only with peace of mind and comfort, but encouragement to keep creating art myself. For perhaps my own artwork will save just one sensitive soul from a complete breakdown. But... if I had to narrow it down, I would choose three examples. Francisco de Zurburan's 1650ish Still Life With Four Vessels provides me with the quiet that I crave daily, hourly, secondly, nanosecondly. I look at it and put myself in the space it depicts. Cool, dark, quiet, clean, orderly but not sterile. John Baldessari's 1972 Pencil Story provides comic relief and kudos to my procrastining side that feels accomplished when finally getting around to, say, mowing my lawn or cleaning the clutter from my kitchen counter... you know, the little problems in life that you know are not just visually unacceptable, but, to the outsider, a clear sign of a chaotic and distracted mind (and we wouldn't want to let that cat out of the bag.) And finally, the scene in Wim Wenders' 1987 film in which the guardian angel embraces the despairing bus rider, and the man suddenly feels inexplicably better, more optimistic. Because... who doesn't need a hug? These pieces haven't changed my life in any 180 degree turn kind of way, but changed my life by making me realize that I am in good company afterall.