Molecular Structures

The above image is from an unfinished painting dated from 1984-85. It is 36x36" acrylic on canvas and was painted while I was a student at the university of Connecticut. It was during my junior year and I was fortunate to have become a university scholar a dyslexic one. This gave me the privilege to basically do whatever i wanted so I was spending time in the geology department looking at thin sections of minerals under their microscopes and finding diagrams of the molecular structures trying to combine the two. This was a very slow a methodical process and it was not really appreciated by my teachers in the department of fine art, but they loved the images in science. At the time I was trying to figure out where I was going to go after school. My parents were pressuring me to apply to graduate school which was not what i wanted to do. Further the faculty felt if i continued to make this work i would not get accepted to the schools I was applying namely Yale, and Columbia. I was a really good representational painter and they wanted me to work on that for my portfolio. All this pressure on one side and no support on the other forced me to cave. I think this became a pivotal moment of many for me as an artist. Never cave!!!! I will say it again and again as an artist, musician,
any truly creative person, don't listen to those who criticize your directions. No one can know where they will lead and it takes a lot of perseverance to find your voice. The unknown is uncomfortable especially to those who know not your roots. The bottom image is a hybrid that I worked on yesterday in macpaint. It exists only here- it may or not be finished- Like the previous post it spans an enormous gap of time. The decisions and additions to the image are the byproduct of much experience, pain, and pleasure. I am contemplating destroying the original and wondering how that will inform this digital image and the body of work as a whole. If anyone is out there reading this and wants the painting please contact me- as that will effect the outcome. Thanks!