With its subtle color values and it's meditative subject, "The Lonely Man" is a unique Hulings piece. Your eye is invited to move in a sweeping circle from the upper left corner, to the man, to the tree. This painting has examples of multiple techniques and influences, from the Jackson Pollock splatter of the spiked tree branches, to Thomas Moran in the smooth mists over the water and mountains.

We take in the golden evening light and the man's small place in a large landscape. Sicily, the island to the west of the "boot" of Italy, is an ancient place with settlements pre-dating Greece and still boasting a large, active volcano; both reminders of the continuation of the dailyness of life in the face of risk and change.