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.