Thought process

Usually I sketch an entire study onto the watercolor block before I paint. As you can see from yesterday’s post, I completed the first half before sketching anything on the other half of the paper. I was a little concerned about discontinuity, but since my barrier studies (Back to Abstract?, Variation, My Niche, Sketching) are about impossibility of communication with my autistic brother, discontinuity is probably a plus. My older brother is profoundly retarded, autistic and has never spoken. 

I must say that I had to think for a while before I even started the right half of the painting.  I have been looking at some of Kandinsky’s paintings, and was intrigued by his use of circles. Since my glasses are round, it was a perfect opportunity to use a circle in my painting. My wife took a picture of me pretending to listen against a wall; this is the image I painted on my side of the barrier.  I employed some of my icons as well.  One icon that I use quite frequently is the spiral. This time, I decided to break it up with a jagged line and play with colors in a vertical axis as opposed to my usual tracing of the spiral with blending colors. I had wanted to keep the colors muted on my side of the barrier, but the broken spiral became the exception. 

I hope that the narrative I had in mind comes across. If not, I hope the viewer can make connections and construct his or her own narrative. If not this, I hope the viewer finds the design pleasing.