31. Driving down a winding road into the village of Garrison, N. Y., I spotted this row of houses perched on the banks of the Hudson River. With no space to place myself for a sketch, I took several photos and later used them as reference for this painting. Looking down from the road, I was intrigued by the way the vertical lines of the tree trunks formed a fence-like barrier between the viewer and the houses. In an imaginary way it appeared as if this was nature's way of protecting these isolated homes along the edge of the river from any unnecessary intrusion. We all crave certain degree of anonymity. There are parts of everyone's life where intrusion is unwelcome. And acceptably so.