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| William Vaughn Howard, Title Unknown, 6/30/1980 acrylic and graphite on paper |
William Vaughn Howard was my painting professor when I
attended the University of Nevada, Reno in the early 1980s. This painting was a
gift from him when I flew from Dallas to Reno in 1986 to see his final show.
Although I no longer practice abstraction, his work helped me to see the power
of horizon. The span was all that mattered. There was no need to find a focal
point or seek an asymmetrical division of earth and sky. Seeing was more than
enough. The moment was intelligence beyond design. When you realize that, then you’re
entirely free within your surroundings. You can painting anything, from any time of
day, or from any place or angle. Seeing reality, you realize that you are no longer boxed in by
the agenda of painting. No longer bound by a stage designed for depicting
people hundreds of years ago, you can finally embrace the space that surrounds you.
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