River Snake, 30" x 26", oil on paper, 1996. Artist's collection.

I had an idea for a painting which related to the recently completed Course, and No Radio of ten years earlier. River Snake is not that painting, but the story of River Snake begins with my attempt to paint a completely different image. This is another example of the intuitive creative process at work.

I mixed seven tones of gray ranging from nearly black, to nearly white. On a primed sheet of paper I sketched the idea and painted for a few hours. The idea was not working out and I was spinning my wheels. I did not want to waste the masses of carefully prepared paint on my pallet, so I decided to paint over the entire surface from top to bottom with the tones of gray paint. I started at the top with the darkest pigment, and tone by tone worked my way to the bottom of the surface where I applied the white. It was late. I was tired and pissed-off about how the evening's work had gone. I took the (now) white-charged paintbrush and made a swipe at the wet surface--ah, redemption. Now there is a single white brushstroke vertically traversing the middle gray areas and into the black.

The white brushstroke appeared to be in the act of separating itself from the gray-scale field of the picture plane. I decided to apply naturalistic visual elements which would imply a conceptual narrative scheme as a way of enhancing the present non-objective state of affairs. Instead of a single brushstroke exiting a field of other brushstrokes, I visualized a fish leaping out of a body of water. Why did the fish decide to jump? Survival instinct--there is a snake swimming in its path. I actually appropriated the form of the "snake" from Leonardo's rendering of a "river" which is adjacent to the left shoulder of his Mona Lisa. Unraveling the metaphorical complexity of the river/snake form and how it functions in this painting would be inappropriately long in this brief synopsis. Trust me, its a doozy.

All of the colors which are apparent in the composition are glazes of colored varnish applied over the monochromatic abstract underpainting. The river/snake was added as an afterthought, as was the scheme of highlights on the surface of the "body of water", and the faint suggestion of foliage in the darkest area of the composition.