Margaret Atkinson writes the inspiring influence of Louise Fishman.

Atikinson remembers that during class "Fishman barely talked. She looked. She looked carefully. She looked at. I don’t know if she knew that I was a) shy and b) demoralized, but I certainly felt respected. Beyond that, over time, I was made to feel that I could paint, that I could paint well! Still, though, I wasn’t going to show my hand. Which is why I hung back in the studio that day. I wasn’t going to let Louise Fishman know how much her painting, “Me and Joe,” meant to me. Here is what I remember about it: 1. It was tiny. 2. It was mostly black and white. 3. It was abstract and yet somehow figurative. 4. It spoke to me."