[Carl Copeland]

I really like this too, John, and Brandon’s right about the “moving life” painting. You paint a realistic picture, stroke by stroke, but stop before filling in the subject herself (though I love the way you sketch her hair and movement by telling us something that didn’t happen). The only thing that bothers me a little is the double image I get from last line: You seem to be saying, “was she a beauty whose beauty is now gone,” but the grammar says, “was she a beauty who is now gone.” If you mean that her younger, beautiful self is gone, replaced by an aging woman, I suppose it’s not a problem. I also wondered about the association of virginity with confusion, but now I’m really splitting hairs. It’s a painting I’ll linger in front of for a while.