LF: When I first started sculpting, I had a rough time coming up with ideas. I would find myself in a creative mood without an idea - nothing to say. After searching through books and magazines for an hour or more, I would find my creative energies had dissipated. I was out of the mood. Later, I kept a little book with future ideas sketched down. Today I don't even think about ideas, they simply come; a never-ending flow of them. Like a blessed faucet when the valve is turned, the ideas flow. They were there in the past, but I didn't know how to turn that valve.

MCM: What about your creative process, now that you know "how to turn on the valve"?

LF: Regardless of what stimulates my creative energies, most of the time I am impressed by an image more often felt than seen. I try not to develop it in my mind, I prefer to watch it grow in the physical reality of my sculpture. This way there can be the necessary interaction between media, mood and the natural growth of the idea. When I start a new piece, I usually have a hearty dinner, put on a piece of my favorite music and begin the armature. When working on a large sculpture, there is quite a bit of physical labor before the modeling begins. After several hours of preliminary work I find myself listening to the music and watching the form take place. I'm still involved with the work but from the emotional aspect instead of the technical.