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detail, "haiti #4"
collection of the artist



detail, "the blue window"
collection of philippe cohen, stanford



detail, "scene from ballet #2"
collection of the artist

Figure & Color Studies

1972-1977

After an intense year of studio art classes, I began turning out painting after painting of nudes on abstract-expressionist backgrounds. Occasionally I'd just make an abstract expressionist painting. Even though I called most of them studies, I thought this was going to be my style as a painter.

After moving to California, I spent a summer hauling these pictures to regional art fairs, as a deliberate end run around the gallery scene, which I perceived as elitist. My friends loved them and took many.

After several years and dozens of these paintings, I discovered they were just a means to an end. Some of them I still like, some of them I destroyed in disgust. But they served their purpose, giving me the confidence to move to the next stage.



detail, "study in red & blue"
collection of ann cashion, washington, dc



detail, "study in crimson"
collection of the artist