Each painting is a journey that begins with a stroke of charcoal soaring across the white plain of possibilities. The smear of black dust provides the departure point into space, form and color, a pilgrimage through shapes that speak; the painter a witness to the elemental meetings of pigments; the emotions created changing as the painting evolves. In this series, the subject explored is the timelessness and beauty of the human spirit; the enduring will to survive with dignity, grace, and even joy. The focus of formal concerns is the juxtaposition of expanses of color, fluidity of line, and the dialogue between space and form.

     The series began with the painting Sarasvati, the only one in the series in which there was a conscious effort to depict a particular being, and one that is a recognizable icon, the established symbolism associated with the goddess in place. This began a process of working with a defined composition before applying color. The use of a charcoal sketch rather than directly applying paint is a shift in methodology from previous paintings, continued throughout the series. The principal challenge became the preservation of the clarity of the defined forms and the structural integrity of the original sketch while developing the life and soul of the image. Color suffuses each shape and space, details are added, and a quality of flatness prevails, emphasizing the connection of the areas of color, and the subtlety or intensity of vibration the joining creates.

     As the series progresses, the sketches are the result of spontaneously drawn images arising from the subconscious; the last few paintings begin with a simple abstraction of spherical flowing shapes. This initial imprint of a black and white abstraction helps further provide a balance between the strength of the narrative content, developed from the preparatory forms, and the formal strength of the composition. The text is applied near completion of the painting, to add another layer of meaning; words inspired by the people, objects, skies, by whatever impregnates the visual landscape with voices that speak to be heard.

     “Time flies”, the English translation of the Latin expression tempus fugit, encapsulates my feelings and thoughts about the content of the series. The objects or figures in the paintings are not confined to an era, although they at times allude to the past and thus the passing of time; they are more about essential aspects of being, rather than specific individual qualities. Time flies, and nothing intrinsic changes about the human spirit, whether we are a knight from Camelot seeking the Holy Grail, a contemporary astronaut seeking her place in outer space, or one of the millions of unsung heroes, those who endure difficult circumstance while retaining their strength, love, and compassion.