2016 was an excellent year for me. Despite the craziness on the planet I painted circa 350 paintings. Read and listened to 83 audio books. Sculpted and decorated my manga eyes. And painted those four mannequins that pinched a nerve in my back. 

In April I had a show with Carré d’artistes in their Saint Germain gallery with excellent sales. Then in November my paintings were at the Luxembourg Art Fair.

In August I began painting landscapes of the American Southwest. These paintings sell faster than I can make them.

For some time I’d wanted to liberate my technique, to go abstract. Painting the red rock formations and big skies , was the ticket. 

It’s true that to master your craft you need to produce a massive quantity of work and to stay concentrated.

The result is this final painting for 2016. Up close the details are abstract, the use of the palette knife apparent. Step back and it blends beautifully. It looks hyper-real.