The frequency with which Edvard Munch loomed over my painterly impulses may have reduced but it has not disappeared. This morning he came back with some force. In particular, his remarkable piece 'The Girls on the Bridge', 1927. When Munch comes, I must yield and I did with my own version of that. I wanted to make the same spot at Aasgaardsstrand devoid of any human activity other than the bridge. So I removed the girls from my work as well as the white villa.
The result is a place before any significant habitation in the area. I don't want to leave you with the misleading impression that I am familiar with the place. I have no clue where it is other than that it is somewhere in Norway. I painted it because I have frequently operated under Munch's influence in terms of the deceptive roughness of his brushstrokes. These days for me there are no brushstrokes involved because I use pastel sticks on paper slathered with vegetable oil. The oil deepens pastel colors dramatically and stops them from powdering like butterfly wings.
My piece looks like what that place may have looked like before people started living there. There was also a steamship jetty nearby which meant it was a busy place. Mine looks pre all that and I like it.