I knew the moment I saw these gulls drifting along that I would paint them some day; they presented a simple statement of grace and design. In writing, it's easy to make a point using many different words, but it's a greater challenge to do it with a single sentence. The same is true of art.

"Side by Side" is a "single-sentence-statement" heavily edited to remove the trivial and superfluous elements that compromise a clean design. My sentence is easily read because the water, the shapes of the driftwood, the placement of the gulls and even their vertical reflections all follow a single horizontal theme. The birds have been simplified - smoothed over - to help formalize the piece. The uniform color scheme has been modified by such "superlative adjectives" as complementary colors and contrasting values. Since every sentence must have an ending, I have portrayed my "." as a single feather floating in the foreground.

Indeed, there is a lot to be said in a simple statement!

- John C. Pitcher