‘Above all what enables a man to be creative is a very simple thing: the window*.’

NO TALKING SHOP, NO DAILY GRIND… Paris, 2 rue Vivienne, Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, the Oval Room, Seat 82. Tuesday 18 February 2014, fifty-six minutes past eleven. These words by French-speaking Flemish poet Émile Verhaeren* (1855–1916) appear on page 23 of the book Sensations d’Art [Art Sensations], edited by François-Marie Deyrolle (Librairie Séguier, 1989). The thread that binds me to New Still Lifes comes from my appetite for discovery. Always curious (whether books, music or films) here I can show what seems to resonate with my own pictures – ones I’ve already made or will make. Buddha bless you!