Structured Abstraction: Color is a painting's initial engagement with the viewer. At closer inspection, questions may form in the viewer's mind. For example, what is being conveyed by the painting? Has a conversation been established between the painter and the viewer? The painting's title may unlock understanding, perhaps an "aha". Davis’s paintings are structured abstractions of a place, an event, a process or acknowledgement of an activity. Each of these is expressed abstractly through form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation. The structure of the painting consists of the interdependent parts in a definite pattern of organization. Davis employed mostly only straight lines and simple blocks of color. Often, the color is graded from bright to dark to suggest shadow and three dimensionality. Colors, straight edges, and shadows are combined to illustrate the motif of the painting, or the back story. With the Class One Railroad Series, Davis wanted to honor the nation's