Today, I added my self portrait to the imaginary brother I have been experimenting with for the past few days, based on inspiration from Willem de Kooning (Imaginary Brother – New Ideas, So Simple, and Yet…, Imaginary Hug, with Feeling. Tri-Cyclopean Portrait). I think I was spoiled by using oil paints on my last portrait. […]
It has been difficult to progress beyond photo editing to create a hand-made Self Portrait with Imaginary Brother. I was so excited a few days ago to find a sketch of this name executed by Willem de Kooning, one of the great artists of the 20th century. I’ve been reading his biography and remarks by […]
Yesterday’s post was an edited photograph of Dave (my younger brother) and me standing outside Mike’s building at Willowbrook. (For those of you just joining me, Mike is my older brother who is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal.) I’m hugging Dave. I replaced my head with Mike’s, from another family photograph, and Dave’s with mine. […]
The first time I made my imaginary brother, it was an electrifying experience. My real older brother Mike is profoundly low functioning, autistic and nonverbal. He has never acknowledged my presence in any way meaningful to me (although I admit that he may have, but I did not understand). I have spent many hours examining the […]
I began my blog 4 years ago with the idea of sharing my experiences as the sibling of an older autistic, low functioning, nonverbal individual (my brother Mike). Most of 2013 was a recap of my struggle to get to know Mike. I relied on old family photographs; my journal entries; thoughts about the dynamics […]
WordPress just told me of my 4th anniversary of blogging. It seems like only three… I am proud of myself for posting at least one blog entry for each day of the past 4 (3?) years. This on-line journal of mine consists of more than 1600 posts. I have progressed in many ways during this […]
I’ve always wanted to paint with oil colors. Hopefully, this year I will be able to paint a canvas or two. I have added oil paints in my last few compositions (Pink – de Kooning-inspired, Pink No. 2, Departure), mainly for the opaque quality of the white. It served its purpose in those paintings. Below, I painted blocks of […]
Today’s watercolor experiment actually began a couple of days ago. I prepared my 12″x9″ paper with the usual transparent red iron oxide, using a rough fiber brush. The de Kooning influence prompted a mustard yellow glaze to cover the rust. Then I went a little crazy with orange and blue random traces. I let the […]
Today, I display the second of the ‘Pink’ series. Yesterday I explained that Willem de Kooning’s work, Pink Angels, inspired me. This painting was a mix of pink body parts strewn on a mustard-yellow background. The pink shapes that I used were also body parts, but instead of being the violently torn-apart appendages of women, mine were […]
I’ve been reading about Willem de Kooning. Many think that his paintings, Pink Angels, was the cusp of his transition from figurative to abstract. I liked it in part, because of the pink figures on the mustard-colored background. I began today with streaks of transparent iron oxide on a titanium white background. Originally I had planned to […]
