Artist's Comments: "This is a student piece. I painted this under the tutelege of a great artist named Ralph Barksdale. Ralph believed in me as an artist and inspired me to go far beyond where I ever thought I might go artistically. Unfortunately, my time as his student in a failed art school and later in private instruction was far too short. Rapidly changing times soon saw our lives parting company and us losing touch. I owe a lot to Ralph.The grounding he gave me would give me the confidence to paint anything and to teach myself that which he would have had we more time together. Only recently, thanks to the world wide web, I have found Ralph, or rather, he found me and I'm glad for the opportunity once again to be able to pick his great artistic brain!"