Gray Painting #1, 18" x 24" - oil on canvas

Grey Painting #1 was the first wholly Abstract painting I did that nonetheless took on some very Realist issues. That is, there were large, compositional areas of neutral grays interacting with the high-key hues implicitly derived from Impressionism, Modernism and Abstract Expressionism. This kind of contradiction was seen previously whenever I combined abstract and representational imagery, but never before was the effect isolated and studied so specifically. The reason this is so significant is because the two approaches to color inherently represent totally different and opposite ways of thinking.

This painting was still quite loud, the grays all very similar and the use of light and dark very limited, but the interplay of bright and dull was nonetheless subtle and engaging. This opened the door to endless questions applicable to both further abstractions and combinations of abstraction and realism. The use of earth tones, grays and more monochromatic colors to tone down my colorful style was expected in my work for some time.

Small Painting #4, 9" x 12" - oil on canvas

Small Painting #4 was composed in response to glitches experienced during the execution small painting #2, and itself incurred surprising revisions visible upon close inspection- an emerging theme in the small works I do .