This painting represents the first in a series that divert from my typical style. Wendy Nylen, of Picture This Gallery in Westport, calls it a "new direction." Somewhere between my first sketch and the final rendition of a painting, I've always diverged from reality. In this painting, and in subsequent paintings, I diverge earlier. I like symbols to enter the painting from the recesses of my mind.

Like a musical composition, I like to portray lyrical scenes that harmonize rhythmically. It interests me to include natural shapes: spirals, hearts and crescents.

I painted this painting in response to a show on Greenwich Avenue. Thai Basil will exhibit my paintings, and because the restaurant features two large picture windows, I'm painting two larger works (24" by 30" on the vertical.)

Some of my fellow artists noted this style as different from most of my other paintings. It seems my style has shifted. I'm no longer painting irises or asters or sunflowers, but spirals and cones, tubes and circles. And while these flowers could exist, they come partly from my imagination.

Paisley is one of my favorite designs, and the fun of painting these designs is making every paisel different.