MY PAINTING AND I. By Simon Shegelman. My painings are subjective (figuarative), yet before subjects (figures) take form on canvas, they have to be transformed into a vision. Images that appear in my paintings are poetic - they represent what I love, remember, desire; they are what I see today and envision tomorrow. Subjectivity of my paintings is attractive and persuasive because I am able to transform visions into "portraits". For instance, a fleeting appearance of a leaf, tree, or even a tiniest piece of glass is a product of quest and self-analysis involved in creating a painting. Dry flowers and grass are used as "subjects", thus the "portrait of grass". My paintings are multifaceted. I start by painting on an easel, and finish in horizontal position with transparent laquer paint. I continue to look for and find new and exciting possibilities: engraving on canvas, using light-transforming colors, ets. For me, technology is the language spoken by my paintings. My abilities, experiments and search for something are what make a violinist a virtuoso. My paintings are multidimentional. They are best appreciated when looked upon from a distance of about 30 or 60 feet. From there they are viewed as a vision of mystery and beauty (I am not afraid of this word). As the viewer approaches my paintings, images of figures aand subjects become more distinguishable. Then closer, and closer... When the frame supporting the painting is no longer in one's view, a whole new world appears, which I call "reflective majic". I put tremendous amount of work to allow the viewer share my vision the way it was intended, and I think I am able to achieve it by being very detailed. I work on every square inch of the canvas, so much so that I sometimes find hardly any place for a signiture. I don't even know how many separate paintings I end up with on a single canvas. Those who collect my paintings have said to me repeatedly that, to their astonishment, they continue to discover new and fresh visual ideas in my paintings - the same paintings they've owned for years. My work of art are not "artistically aggressive", and I don't dictate my phylosophy to the viewer. What my paintings say to someone is quite simple: "I'm happy to see you!" A lot has been said and written about my paintings. Renowed Italian art historian, Georgio Tellan, wrote: "Shegelman is loyal and devoted to the axiom of philosopher Simonide di Ceo (556-467 A.D.): "painting is a silent poetry. poetry is vocal painting". Thank you and I remain truly, S. Shegelman