Since about 1980 Welliver has turned his attention to painting a series of works depicting barren, rocky, rather uninviting, but nonetheless, imposing “big landscapes,”… similar… to Blueberries in Fissures, 1983. Characterized by high, irregular horizontal lines… and very rough, direct painting styles. Welliver says of the lower right portion of Blueberries in Fissures “it’s painted with a broom!”… In Blueberries in Fissures the fissures themselves serve another purpose besides helping to penetrate the surface; they are used as structural design elements. –Frank H. Goodyear, Jr.