Drawings, 1985

Home / Drawings, 1985

In 1985 I was living in Taiwan. I was having my first full fledged adult life experience having just graduated in 1983 from undergraduate school. And I was a bohemian. Initially I had to work a lot of hours teaching English since I arrived in Taiwan flat broke and speaking only 3 words of Mandarin. However, after learning how to speak Chinese passably and getting my bearings I was able to widdle my work schedule down to 2 days a week teaching art to children and conversational English to mid level executives.   

When I returned to America in 1987 I had no intention of staying in America. So I didn’t really prepare well for my exodus. I basically left my apartment and all my art to a friend with the idea that I would return in a few months. I never did.   

So, I have very little documentation of the work I did during that time. But from what little I do have it’s clear I was looking deeply at traditional Chinese painting and philosophy. I was fortunate to be making enough money teaching two days a week to support having a nice flat that doubled as my studio and my place to hold court. It wasn’t long before my place became “the” hangout for young expats studying or working in Taipei who worth either making some kind of art or at least appreciated the arts. What is included here on this website are just the few images I have of my work at that time.

Ink/Paper
8.5″ x 11″
1985

Ink/Paper
8.5″ x 11″
1985

Ink/Paper
8.5″ x 11″
1985

Ink/Paper
8.5″ x 11″
1985

Ink/Paper
8.5″ x 11″
1985

Dr. Keith and his Grandson

“Dr. Keith and his Grandson”
Oil/cardboard
40” x 32”
1987

Dr. Keith was the father of one of my closest college friends, Laurie Kieth. She was also the lover and eventually the wife of my best friend. Dr. Keith was a professor of geology at Penn State and one of the scientists who first discovered plate tech-tonics. He was old school in that he saw academics as a blending of the arts and sciences and felt a university should not be conflated with an advanced trade school.

He adored me and commissioned me to create several paintings for him which I did. This is not one of them. But years later when I visited him after my 4 years in Taiwan I created this piece in appreciation of his faith in me.

I was in my late 20’s and still soaking up lessons from art history. Here I am obviously absorbing the work of American artist Richard Deibenkorn and blending it with ideas from Mark Rothko and Pablo Picasso’s cubist work. It’s a strange yet beautiful work. Some would even call it a pastiche. But now that we live in an age of appropriation and AI sampling it looks strangely prescient.