b'JKR: Working on such a large scale in the parkJKR: Usually nine of the big canvas oil paint-is very rewarding. The most disconcerting as- ings. Some I have to put away and take out pect is the wind, but otherwise the paper islater. Otherwise it gets to be a forest in my stu-very at home, laid out in the moist grass. Somedio. The large watercolor studies are done one of the passers-by have become park friends andat a time in progression. appreciative critics. The benefit of producing works in nature is the never-ending beauty andNMO: Why did you decide to add videos to inspiration. The pictures that I have done ofsome of your paintings?tango in the park at night were fascinating to do from life because of what I saw as the colorsJKR: The video of the tango dancers provides of the night. But to create them, one needs tomovement around the Shakespeare statue, with rely not on illumination but on instinct. Thethe shadows moving all the time from the legs paint in the dark looks different; sometimes Iandthelight.Thevideomarrieswiththe think it is pink and it turns out to be yellow inpainting when it is projected onto the canvas. It the daylight. was just natural. I was taking videos as well as drawing at the tango scene. NMO: How many hours do you stay in the park at one time? NMO: What interests you about Central Park?JKR: It depends. Mostly all day. Last August, IJKR: My fascination has been the figures in a spent so much time in the park that I created anlandscape. These figures present the scenario, and alter ego named August Parker.the landscape is the theater setting. When I go to Central Park, not only are there all those people NMO: So the shadows must move a lot. and all those faces but each is on an individual is-land of grass. The figures create multiple vignettes JKR: Yes. You have to be selective. Each partthat interlace, making a grand pattern of motifs. of the day has its particular beauty.Today, New York is absolutely colorblind. When I first started working in the park, you would see NMO: How many paintings do you have go- a mixed-race couple together and it was sort of ing at one time? stylish. Now it is a regular thing and nobody pays'