n an interview in 1979, David Hockney confided that he wished he could paint like he could draw, with the same speed and spontaneity. Most painters will tell you that, he said. The dream of the painting that emerges as effortlessly and boldly as a doodle, with the urgency and honesty. The dream of zipless luck. This is why Matisse, for example, stands so high in the estimation of other artists. His paintings seem so unlaboured. They enter into other worlds without having to knock.
Well, once can dream. And one can strive. And sometimes one is lucky. For me, one of my happiest encounters was with "When Orpheus Sings". The image itself happened rather quickly. And after that, most of the work involved a lot of staring and a lot of restraining of impulses to add or change something. It still has definite strong lines, yet it let me take another step in tie direction of disintegration of line, and in so doing, it is already suggesting the next.
