In my earlier work I was inspired by the writings of Erwin Panofsky and his interpretation of Flemish paintings and church art. I found traces of Jewish life and iconography in these art works and began to integrate them as more abstract ideas in my own paintings. While introducing blocks of color and white I began to explore relationships and juxtapositions within the paintings, I experimented with textures and tension and soon circles and irregular shapes began to enter my work.

My life got upended with the arrival of Covid19. I could not paint as I had. I was looking around and seeing things I hadn’t seen before. I saw a tin can stuck in asphalt outside my studio as well as a flower nearby. I saw a branch and a piece of shaped bark.

That’s when I started painting on wood panels. I stained the panels to highlight the grain. The grain of the wood told me where to apply the paint. At first I used acrylics and then started to use gouache paint. I started painting organic shapes. These shapes evolved into seascapes. It was interesting to see what was going to emerge next.

My teacher, Tom Wudl, introduced us to the Chinese tree paintings of the 17th century. I started tracing the leaves and trees to be comfortable painting in the Chinese style. I have always loved painting trees and this offered me a new way to paint them.

Recently my 20 year old granddaughter, a beautiful young woman, died of a drug overdose. During the months following I felt her spirit sitting with me. She guided me to create a series of collages that represent a collaboration of the two of us working together to create colorful, whimsical, and spiritual imagery.