This is an early piece, a small painting on paper that was completed in 1996 or 1997. Called Night Clouds Creep In, it is one of those pieces that quickly left my hands but whose image remains with me vividly, forever burned into memory. Unfortunately, I had no real image of this piece. I had somehow either misplaced the slide of it or had not taken one in the first place. There were times early on, when this happened more than I would like to admit.
But the collector who acquired this painting those many years back recently brought several early pieces of mine that he owned back to the Principle Gallery so that they could photograph them properly for his records. I was thus able to be reunited with this image and several others that also fell into this category of lost images of mine.
As I said, this piece resonated with me. It’s a great example of my early work, with its spase composition and two distinct blocks that make up the sky and the foreground separated bya thin white line of unpainted surface. It is a continuation of a series that did early on that I called the Haiku series, inspired by the evocative three line poems of Japan. These paintings were meant to be simply put yet very imbued with feeling. Most were field scenes like this.
This piece really captures everything I wanted for this series. Quiet and still, yet filled with the anticipation of what is to come. There is a calmness and a tension at one glimpse. Soothing and ominous, but balanced. In equilibrium. It just works for me as I see it. I am grateful to have it back to reinforce my memory of it.
Redtree Times 
In the 1960’s my dad, who was an industrial engineer at the Maytag company, had an intern from Japan who worked with him for a year. When he left, he gave my dad a set of exquisite wood block prints – I wish I knew now where they have gone.
In any event, before I read a word the image had brought those prints to mind. What a delight to find their series name is “Haiku”. I’d say you succeeded rather well.