to a First Prize at the Atlanta Artists Center in June, 2015. The show was titled ‘Reality or Abstraction?’ And this figure painting encompasses both ways of seeing. As every serious painter knows, you must be able to see abstractly in order to paint the figure well. I started this large painting of model Mona Reeves with a small group of artists in my studio, intending to spend several weeks. By the time I had made my composition, painted a head study, and made this first pass, my colleagues were finished with their paintings.  Little did I realize then, but mine had reached completion as well.