Popular expressions, such as “my old flame,” or “to hold a torch for someone,” often connect to Robert’s paintings. In this case, Robert refers to an elaborate metaphor from Elizabeth Smart’s novel: “Can I see the light of a match while burning in the arms of the sun?” Smart admits her love for a cheating husband may be unwise, but she doesn’t care. Love is more over-powering than reason. In the woman’s mind, her lover appears differently from how he is in reality. In Robert’s image, the lighted match is held before the woman, but her body and face remain in shadow. This visual paradox is worthy of surrealism, as is the notion of l’amour fou vanquishing rationality and social conventions.

The titles of paintings for “The Seal Upon Thine Heart” series are particularly revealing. Robert starts his series with Song of Solomon and The Lavishness of My Feelings, both long literary titles that support ambitious paintings striving for complexity. By the time Robert reaches the fifth image in his series, Flame, he has found a more comfortable zone for himself, using simple one word titles that play upon one symbolic element. The painting can be understood on a basic level. The flame is held before the woman’s heart. The warm-colored light contrasts with the cool blues and greens in the rest of the image and suggests a sudden burst of feeling. Other contrasts include: light and darkness, foreground and background, male and female, clothed and naked.