I would like to especially thank my wife, Karen, who took the time to go over everything I had written to make sure that what I wrote down was exactly what I meant to say.

I would also like to thank my mentor, Irwin Greenberg, who passed away a few years ago. "Greeny" taught painting at the High School of Art and Design in NYC. Without his guidance, I would never have gone on to finish high school and go to college. He was, and still is, a source of inspiration for many former students who took his classes in high school and at the School of Visual Arts, as well as at the Art Students League, all in NYC.