 So my studio at the time was on the Upper West, Upper East Side. So during 9-11 I was there and eventually, I mean I was there when the first plane hit and then the second plane. I knew something was really wrong. When I heard the news, my first thought went to terrorism. This isn't right. Something's going on. It's like some people eat a lot when they're upset. Some people don't eat at all. Some people go to the studio and just let it all out when they're upset and I just couldn't do any work. So I just felt stuck like a block, an artist block. Right after that I was asked to be part of a show called True Colors' Meditations on the American Spirit and I thought at first I would do just a plain pictorial image of the Twin Towers but it became something much more emotional for me. It was really, it was more of a piece about what happened, not just a drawing of the towers. So I really created something that was both historical so you could sort of see the towers there but really more about the clouds for me. I mean that's what I do a lot of. Clouds are a very big part of my work. So I think the first piece which was called Descending Spirit was really about that cloud and what it meant. It seemed to be almost like a light protecting, you know, enveloping the people that were going somewhere. I mean I became very obsessed about where they were going and what was happening to all these people. So even though it was a horrific thing I felt a little bit of comfort in a sense. Almost like Exodus I started thinking about, you know, and I'm not a very religious person but it really felt like God appeared in a cloud. I feel like my previous works before 9-11 were, you know, they were landscapes but they had a lot more emotion after 9-11. It wasn't okay to just do a landscape. I really felt more passionate about the work and especially the black and white. I was always drawn to clouds. It was something very spiritual. Like what is there out there and they symbolize hope for me. With pastels there's something very forgiving. I mean you could do one drawing and then two minutes later it can become something else. So it's a very forgiving medium, very ethereal and atmospheric just like my work is. So it really is a perfect fit for me. It's very spontaneous. My work speaks to duality of the beauty of nature as well as the destructive, powerful forces of nature. Also the lack of control that we have. It really is beauty to it but there's also some scary stuff, you know. So I feel like that's what this series was about too.