After many years, I finally came to understand that I am most happy when I am creating.

The chorus in Verdi’s Aida sings an invocation to the great god, Ftah.

“You, who from nothing created the universe....”

How is something created from nothing? By use of the imagination.

We have an image in our mind and we create it as art.

And by creating a tangible product that starts with a thought, we are assuming, on a small scale, the role of God.

Perhaps the anxiety of being powerless over life and death is relieved a bit when we, like god, create.

I regarded the practice of drawing as a poor cousin of painting. 

I drew only to be able to proceed with the application of my oils. 

It was only a means to an end. 

But I came to appreciate and enhance the design as an end in itself. 

It is an elegant art that can lead to profound results!  

The work I have done with graphite and charcoal during these last months of  Covid lockdown has produced pieces that compare more than favorably with my oil paintings.