Clouds, 28" x 22", acrylic on paper, 1993. Artist's collection.

The first few paintings in this gallery follow an intuitive approach similar to the process by which the works in the Cartesian Grid gallery were made. The initial design, or, ground consisted of a random matrix of alternating black and white brushstrokes. After painting the black and white abstract design I toned down the contrast between the black and white pigment by applying layers of colored glazes. I painted the clouds because I knew that they would provide a strong visual counterpoint to the black and white abstract design, and because I have always been enchanted by cumulonimbus clouds as three-dimensional forms. I am equally enchanted by the rich blue colors of the sky and never tire of painting its modulations of blue--from deep blue violet at the zenith, down to pale blue at the horizon. I did not want to obliterate the initial black and white painting by joining the sky form with the clouds as it would appear in nature. The strings, or, threads of the initial design, the clouds, and the sky, are given equal pictorial value suggesting an intriguing configuration of naturalistic imagery and space, and, formal/conceptual visual interplay.