Jun_21 Looking back at my earliest paintings . . .

Now that I’ve been painting for several years, I have passed through several stages of development. I can now see my progress with the advantage of distance and hindsight. I can see how ideas that I had in my earlier works have been unconsciously maturing, changing and growing refined in the later works. Let me give you some examples.

This very early painting, "Dancing Threads," has a wonderful sense of movement using threads and lines. There is a beauty in the simplicity, starkness and visual transparency . . .

I have continued to use threads in my art over time and I use them with more boldness and dramatic impact as shown below in my recent works.

In this latest painting, "Treasures of the Deep," the threads contain the sea glass for a very dramatic effect.

In "Alive and Growing," I’m using very delicate silver threads for a very specific purpose and impact.

This early painting, "Facing the Past," employs the technique of transferring an image by taking a self-portrait line drawing and transferring it to the canvas. It was an exciting method. I liked the impact of the delicate line drawing as it appears in the painting.

I have only used this technique one other time to date. Here I took the score of a waltz that my Uncle Leon wrote for me to commemorate my 16th birthday. The transposed score was the central focus and purpose of "Waltzing." I created the background in such a way that it appears as if the music is emerging and coming forward from a mist. I was able to take this technique and use it as the central focus of this more recent painting.

In "Spontaneity," I am using a plastic sheet called mylar that I painted. I then cut the mylar into various shapes and applied it to the canvas. It was an exciting new technique for me at the time and it is one that I continue to use regularly.

Here are a few of my recent paintings using mylar. You can see here that I’m more familiar with the medium and employ it with increased diversity and confidence.

In "Opening and Entering," I’ve worked with some circles with mylar painted on them. One circle is cut into pieces and the others are used whole, so there is a delightful contrast between the mylar shapes.

In "Bountiful," I cut silver painted curve shapes and used silver sparkles to complement them so that they are even more dramatic.

In "Guardian Angel," the angel is cut out of mylar so that she can appear as a shimmering energy that you can slightly see through giving her that "ethereal" quality.