I have experienced many different cities. In my youth, I was surrounded by the most beautiful architecture of the XVIII–XIX centuries, the ”Venice of the North”–Leningrad, Russia. That was my first love. Later came Vienna, Paris, Boston, New York, ... I walk around a city and sketch. Often I am drawn to an alluring alleyway verses a pompous street or palace. My visual memory is acute and I have the ability to imprint the mood of the city at the time of the sketch, along with the colors, the weather, the lighting, and the energy of the street. Even years later I can look at any of my sketches and remember the street, the city, and what kind of day it was. I must develop an intimate relationship with a city before I am able to paint it.