Shortly after I finished my evaluation of work exhibited at Kothe Howard in Charlotte, I launched the current phase of my painting. The first months of work were angry reactions and feelings I possessed over the failure in the digital canvas. I literally thought that I had wasted two years working only on mechanics of paint application and copying. Once the digital image was finished on the computer, it was finished; save some form of multiple printing of the image.

The new work was executed rapidly and mostly intuitively; very little planning. I'd select some colors randomly, mix some paint volumes, and paint. I didn't want to think about anything while I painted. Since I work flat, the painting lies flat on my sawhorse easel setup, I would walk around the four sides and make my moves as if I were a crapshooter. Automatism ruled! If a painting needed correcting after a session was over, I considered the painting a failure. I'd strip the stretcher, redo and start again. I found the process exhilarating, and still do today.

Throughout my career I work endlessly on paper; painting and drawing. I especially like working with watercolor techniques using the water-based acrylic polymer paints (thick n thin). It is a fast and immediate art form on paper. After nearly 40 years of painting, I am beginning to establish this same freshness on canvas. I don't know why this has been such a long struggle. I am more afraid of a blank canvas than I am of a blank piece of paper. Also the nature of painting on canvas -- over painting, painting out, the large scale of it, etc - creates more dead space than alive space. On a piece of paper a few marks can complete an idea. But one has to make a more complex effort on a canvas! Hogwash! I now believe that a few marks on canvas can complete an idea on a canvas too. Color me Zen!

A note about the new melenium - 2000. This was not a good year for me healthwise. I was diagnosed with spinal tumor last February. Although the surgery was successful, the recovery period has been long and hard. Only recently (October-November 2000) was I able to lift over 10lbs. I completed only 3 canvases in 2000, and that was last January. I have concentrated only on paper as a support and acrylic paint. The painting sessions are still very short for me; lasting only a few hours each day. But the work is electric.