After a month in the Province of Yunnan China I was so fascnated by the Chinese writing that I bought myself a book and began teaching myself Mandarin. I studied and wrote Chinese two hours daily and four months later began having weird and beautiful visions as I closed my eyes to sleep at night. The visions did not contain Chinese characters but I knew that the shapes came from them. They were so colorful that I began painting them. This is how it began and then the paintings took on a life and direction of their own. I had been working towards abstract for many years and at last it happened in the most natural way. One of the benefits in growing old is that you don't give a shit about what people think. Freedom at long last. I hope you all feel the joy of freedom in these paintings and the exuberant energy it generates.  



 

all right preserved to mike leaf ©

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