[Janice D. Soderling]

Rick, essentially, people find in a work of art what they bring there. The thoughts that rise are not necessarily those the artist/poet intended.

That said, I have sometimes found my own poems to be about things that I didn't know was there when I was writing and polishing and moving things on my mental table. (Not that I am trying to tell you what you think, god forbid).

But one thing I have learned is that the artwork and poems that give rise to the reader's/viewer's surge of thoughts are those that we remember long, long after the encounter.

For me, this is that kind of painting.