Japanese Maple

48"x48"

Oil on linen

2006

This is a tree in my backyard that I have several times tried—but failed—to realize in paint. Finally I incorporated some ideas and techniques that might be considered more minimalist in approach. The manner in which color and geometry are approached, the layering of broken forms, and the use of gestural line in creating a sense of space without recourse to descriptive means—all these elements may have some kinship with the methods of artists like Brice Marden or de Kooning. It is my hope that the very different strains of minimalist and realistic painting will someday make sense together, or even combine in a new form. Call it art fusion.