I started this series, (not knowing it would develop into one), in 1996, shortly after moving to Charlottesville. This new environment gave me a kind of courage, or chutzpah to delve deeper into the female figure, abstracting her enough that she would become more of a symbol than a representation of woman. All my ladies have purple skin, blue eyes and no hair…a device that I hoped would add to the emotion(s) in their expressions and gestures, rather than distract the viewer with identifiable types.