John Cleary, of Salisbury, Maryland, is currently professor of painting and drawing at Salisbury State University. His latest display, entitled Decade Less One is a unique blend of oil, acrylics, chalk, watercolors, even a gouache. All of the works are untitled, referred to only by a code devised by the artist.

Cleary has been a critically acclaimed artist for many years, actively teaching since 1975, and just two years ago was awarded a Regional Fellowship in painting jointly by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has also placed highly in numerous juried shows on the eastern seaboard.

Cleary explains how his work has evolved: "The center of the artwork had always been important, and now I began to build from the center by marking its location and allowing the process in finding and defining the form to be shown. In the years that followed there was a shift away from form. Spontaneous painted line expressed changing thoughts and ideas."