'WOMEN IN CHAIRS: SONYA' - Watercolor and Gouache

In the late 80’s I was fortunate to meet and become friends with an engineer visiting and working in the States for a wine distribution company. I was an assistant to a chef in a French restaurant. Many conversations about art ensued, and of course, I was fascinated by the likes of Hauser, Klimt, Kokoschka, etc. He invited me to Austria if the occasion presented itself, which it did in the early 90’s while I was living and working in London. I decided to reach out, and he said I could stay at his parents' home in Krems. We traveled to the city, where he had friends at the Academy of Fine Arts, and I was given an audience with the assistant professor to the esteemed surrealist painter, poet, musician, and writer Arik Brauer. I eagerly looked forward to this visit and to the possibilities it held for forwarding my art career. What happened next was beyond my comprehension. Arik had returned from a show in Paris and was willing to meet with me and his senior graduating class. There were numerous questions about the art scenes in America, and when I asked Arik about my art, he said, "Relax and loosen up, let it come out of you!"

I visited every museum in Vienna, including the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts. This is where I discovered Richard Gerstl and his self-portraits, which have inspired me to create my own. These experiences, I believe, are authentic connections in art.