In addition to your art, your line of clothing for women, your books, your acting career, and your work with charities, you're the wife of actor/director James Keach and the mother of six children. How do your spiritual values play into your family life?

I was raised to appreciate and learn about all spiritual practices, and I've really tried to teach that to my children, so we haven't "signed them on," as it were, to any specific religion. In fact, so far at age seven, the twins have been to three religious schools: a Jewish school, a Presbyterian school, and a Catholic school-and we don't practice any of those three. And now they're at public school.

We want them to be comfortable in all religions because they have friends of all different faiths. In spite of what's going on in the world with so many atrocities done in the name of religion and extreme religious fanaticism, I'm really trying to get my kids to understand that the core principles of all these religions are basically the same: That there is a higher power that we truly believe exists, and it is there to help us and that it created this incredible world we have. And that the essence of all religions is to do good to others.

You wrote a book called Romantic Living. Do you have any advice for those of us who are "romantically challenged"? Can someone living in a one-room apartment actually live romantically?

I think you make it personal to you, to the things that matter to you, to the things you love! So, it may be memorabilia from your family or something that a friend gave you or making photographs of people that you care about or art work that just speaks to you. And your surroundings should be the colors that make you feel really good. It's so important to surround yourself with things that are pleasing to your eye and to your heart.

And personally, I think when it comes down to it, you can't go wrong with candles and fresh flowers-even if they're wildflowers or they're whatever happens to be growing in the garden. Sometimes I'll just pick some branches and things from the garden, even in winter, and I'll throw a couple of silk flowers in with it, just to cheat, just enough to know they're there. But that makes it romantic.

Oh, yes, and personal gift-giving is important-just a little something, you know; it can be an eight-dollar beautiful thing. There's a bookmark in the St. Catherine's Court Home Collection. It's just beautiful, and it's only about $8 or $10 or something like that. You give something like that to somebody who has touched your heart, to a friend who's going through a tough time, to somebody who's helped you. Or a gift for no apparent reason is very romantic.

I think, basically, it's your nutrition that dictates how your skin is. So, I know that if I eat chocolates, drink too much wine, have too much coffee, or if I'm around people smoking cigarettes (I don't smoke), it's going to kill my complexion. Cigarette smoking is the number one killer of women's complexions. That's a fact. If you actually care about how you're looking, you definitely don't want to be anywhere near cigarette smoke because it wrinkles you up in a way that even plastic surgery can't do anything about. It has an uncanny way of aging you.

I know you're nearly out of time, but I have one last question. Can you talk about what kind of mother you are?

Well, occasionally, I'm quite good!

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