Untitled (1993) Triptych (left panel) This piece is a favorite of mine. I was curious back in 1993 about the effect of broad strokes applied to three 40 x 60 sheets laid out on my studio floor. To achieve a "free-flowing" nature to the design I attached a pencil to the end of two (taped together) wooden dowels. The resulting five foot pencil was then used to apply sweeping lines across the three panels. To further insure a smooth line, I made sure the separate panels had no space between them. I can remember enjoying the process of drawing this design as it was not only large, but it also involved three (eventually) integrated images. The intent was to superimpose large square patterns over the sweeping lines AND to do this in a balanced way while also trying to emphasize motion in these geometric shapes as well. This was achieved by staggering them and intentionally NOT showing their full size. An "off-the canvas" look was attempted here. In this image, I was curious about developing depth as well. This was achieved by intentionally "weaving" the flowing lines through the geometric shapes AND tinting the interior areas of the shapes as well. Since the images were so large, I had to mount all three panels in another area of the house (where there was more wall space). It was ONLY in this way that I was then able to "see" what colors should be used to insure the accurate integration of the three designs. At one point I was curious about how such images (in triptych format) would look on the outside of buildings. These larger image ideas at one point DID result in what later turned out to be the mural for the Acton, Massachusetts Music Center. Prior to this large-format series of ideas, I was interested in a project which never really got off the ground. It was to magnify DIATOMS (which are beautifully geometric microscopic sea organisms) to be approximately 48 inches in diameter. The idea broke down when I discovered the fabric I had chosen for a specially constructed silkscreen had too small a mesh for inks to penetrate. A second and more serious problem developed when the sheer SIZE of the silk screen caused an adverse "bowing" to take place such that the printed image areas became blurred by the dragging effect of the bowed silk. Possibly the diatom project will be attempted at some other time differently. Like snowflakes, diatoms have always fascinated me. There are so many varieties and all are very beautiful. Imagine how they would look if they were huge! Back