“Since the early ’70’s, I had the practice of getting up close to my still-life’s–my eyes were usually within one foot of the objects on the table. Furthermore, as I scanned a still-life, I imagined myself to be very small and traveling among the–now as big as a house–objects. The still-life, then, became a fascinating spatial experience. To help the viewer to experience these ‘places’ as I did, I painted them–in oil–ten times life size. The iconography of flowers, and of fruit, painted large, with robust, bulging forms, speaks of fecundity, ripeness, vitality. ”

“So entranced was I with parts of the still-life (I imagined them to be little worlds of their own) that I decided to paint sections of this still-life place. I discovered some unique realms. Cropping is a powerful tool for the artist. ”

“The potential to discover and explore more realms in a group of objects led me to do eleven paintings from this still-life. Along with the new medium (watercolor) came a shift in my way of reacting to the realms. The paintings became more stylized and flatter; straight lines and compass-curves abound. These paintings seem to be about style and verve. The color is soft and harmonious.”

“This is a complex still-life, the left side representing the Magician (the faceted crystal), with the Sea in the middle (sea shells, the fringe of the rug like a breaking wave), and the Muse on the right (Reproduction of the head from Ingres’ Odalisque). I painted sixteen sections of this still-life, sweeping from left to right. The trend begun in the Wise Sayings series of stylizing, morphed into not only stylizing, but pure play in which I could no longer pretend that I was being faithful to what I saw. I became the Magician, inventing as well as discovering. ”

“I had such fun painting the head of the Odalisque in the final painting of the Magician series that I decided to try painting a person. Wonderful You is from a photograph of my wife, Simone. Painting from photos of people led me to working for several years from photos, pictures in magazines and newspapers, and stills from videos. Working in a free, intuitive way from these sources, I tried to capture the archetypal essence of each. My collection of characters includes, among others: A magician, a sleazy businessman, a shouting man, a pleading woman, and a sleeping woman.”

“Eight years of doing highly exaggerated and simplified figures from photographs left me longing to create substantial form again. I found a rich mine of potential in my living room. Working with a pencil I went back to my roots in perception by following closely the sight seen. The drawings (pencil paintings) attempt to re-create the experience of that serene, numinous space with its contents of people and cherished objects fully rendered in light. I felt, at times, that my pencil point was on the people, experiencing them fully. ”