Алексей Антонов: "I was born in Russia in 1957, and I've been trying both hands (I'm ambidextrous) at art ever since. I can remember my self from the age of two, and when I was three, I was the terror of my mother's make-up kit, as I loved to draw murals on the wallpaper with her lipstick. All through my childhood I continued drawing, and in high school, though I left much to be desired in my other classes, I excelled in art and singing. I think that I was not a good student in other areas, because I prefer to teach than to be taught. Eventually though, I learned to learn. In 1972 I entered the State Art College in Baku, where impressionistic, realistic, and abstract painting were taught...but no classical.
