I’m beginning to relax a bit with my painting. Instead of trying to paint like Joan Miró, I am concentrating on my own iconography (see Narrative or Portrayal of Feelings?, Little Thought Experiment, Simplify, Beginning of an Iconography?).

My younger brother is a wonderful musician. He is working on a Rachmaninoff piece, and told me that through his study, he found three melodies that wind together even though he has two hands.  I found a visual analog in Miró’s work (see The Beautiful Bird Revealing the Unknown to a Pair of Lovers). There are at least three visual ‘melodies’ happening in that composition.

Below I have superimposed my shorthand portrait of my older brother Mike* with a stylized self portrait (see figure at far right in Abstract Portraits #1). Circumscribing these likenesses is a rough outline of a brain within which I sketched a few gyri. There are several other iconic figures I use in this study from previous artistic efforts.

Superposition
12″x9″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

* My brother Mike is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal.