While living in France, I painted the bridges crossing the Seine River. It was wonderful hearing the accordion players and seeing the people strolling and the dogs playing while I painted- it made me appreciate how fortunate I have been to be able to live a creative life. I cannot imagine how dull life would be without music, visual art, written word and dance.

   This film is the inspiration for my book VICTOR AND HUGO, as I painted in the areas that Victor Hugo himself wrote about. 

To celebrate the event of Robert J. Blake's 25th picture book, one of his characters, Grumpy Max, agreed to sit down for a one-on-one interview. The results are quite revealing.