Thought I would share one recent painting that was inspired by an ink drawing originating in Nanjing, China.

Waterfall Landscape Improvisation, acrylic on canvas, 54″ x 32″ ©

I came across the ink drawing in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, England) in 2010. I sat down nearby the work and made a rough sketch in pen, thinking that one day I might do something with it. When, this past spring, I started a painting based on that sketch, much of the concrete imagery that the sketch used to evoke in my memory was gone.  A bit curious as I prepared this post, I searched for an image of the work on the museum’s website and found that much had been lost in translation–and in the upheavals the painting went through as a resolution was sought. Nevertheless, what was missing would only have been hinted at via improvisation anyway; thus the painting retains the spirit of its inspiration while capturing the vision I had for its reemergence.