"A very long time ago, I lived in an old house in a Chicago suburb. This house was built in the 1850's. It was a tall brick structure, with a steep pitched roof, with two dormers. The house was built next to a meandering cattle trail, which is now one of the suburb's main streets. The exterior walls were of common brick, which laid atop large stones. These stones were the building's foundation, which in turn, were merely set in sand. The windows and doors were tall and narrow, having handsome brick arches constructed over each of their openings. This was not an elegant house, but a house built to satisfy its occupant's basic needs.

"To make a long story short, I remodeled that house, and the crowning acheivement of that endeavour was an interior exposed-brick wall that virtually ran the length of the entire house. This wall had a presence in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms. It was built of full common brick with clinkers and other defective bricks incorporated into its overall design. Also, brick arches were installed over all its doors as well as over heat and cold air return openings. As a final touch, the mortar joints were raked out to add depth and texture. When completed, this wall was a thing of beauty. It was more than just a wall; it was an imposing structure. A monument, who would reveal its beauty to those who would take the time to notice nuances in its texture, color, and design.

"Soon life's demands became such that the wall became obscure due to neglect. The beautiful structure became nonexistant. It became just another wall whose only function was to support, separate, and isolate.

"I don't live in that house anymore. I never took pictures of the house. I never painted a watercolor or an oil of that wall. This was a big mistake. For, with the passage of time, the beauty of that wall has diminished in my mind's eye. I should have created artwork that captured the beauty which once stood before me. I should have made art that would have explained this beauty to viewers, even today.

"Taking this line of reasoning one step further, this concept could be applied to a worthwhile approach for further artwork. This theme could be developed int an attempt to recreate the essence of beauty before it fades into oblivion, becomes invisible by indifference, or discarded by becoming unnecessary. Since this understanding, my art consists of images of what I see as beauty. I've learned that beauty is many things. I first had to ask myself, what is beauty? Also, once beauty was defined what, of beauty does one paint? This ongoing theme, I call 'The American Occurence.' For, by coining an ambiguous title, it offered me the latitude to encompass the many facets of beauty. This artwork, hopefully, portrays elements of beauty one might encounter in life. Beauty might just be beautiful solely because of being- much like that brick wall, warts and all."