AIC: Is there one legendary artist living or dead, that you’d love to spend a day with and learn from? If so, who and why?

​

PV: Well, that is difficult since my paintings are influenced by many artists. However, if I had to narrow it down to one artist it would be Pablo Picasso. Picasso was such an innovative person and actually took what may have seemed as simplicity into a level of perplexity to evoke thoughts and interpretations, which I think is a central tenet of art. It had the observer thinking and creating his or her own reality of what was being observed. His paintings always fascinated me. One of most memorable Picasso moments was when I saw his painting “Guernica” in Madrid at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. I must have spent about an hour just absorbing the feelings as well as experiences Picasso portrayed concerning the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian forces during the Spanish Civil War. The energy associated with this painting made me imagine the pain and suffering the event caused. It is a remarkable piece. This is the kind of physical existence I attempt to bestow upon the pieces I create.