The accepted definition for polymath is someone 'knowledgeable in many fields', but I prefer 'adept at many processes'. If I knew more Latin I could coin it. But that's me - adept at many processes, practicing many disciplines. Knowledge does not imply action. The whole fun of being a polymath is not just knowing but doing, dancing, playing. My natural approach is to soak up experience and then discover or create (same thing) a gestalt, a unifying vision for living.

So it is with my study of the figure. I returned to the Art Students League last January (2004) determined to crack the code of the figure once and for all. I was chagrined to find that there is no one way, no universally accepted system. The right approach (for me) is under development. In other words, though none of the many approaches available at ASL match my sensibilities perfectly, each contains something worthwhile. My mission is to identify what makes sense and integrate.

I have several guides for painting and sculpture but the adventure at the ASL and my studio is not the river but merely one tributary. I also practice systems of movement that bring intense awareness about how my own body works and what it is capable of. I carefully observe and document the work of professional dancers. I even give healing touch to the deserving for hands on experience of living anatomy. Each of these modalities is a tributary flowing into the river of my figurative awareness.

Although it's likely that there are whole new categories of awareness around the corner, I've prepared a working sketch of the river with it's network of tributaries. A bit of pondering and light extrapolation feels appropriate and useful right now.