I think of free form drawing as a smooth, easy going process. The hand wanders, the pencil or pen follows and makes a record of the languid movements. The mind empties of thoughts. Today’s visual record betrays an agitated state of mind. Outlines are repeated, even scrubbed into the page. Smooth, over-lined contours threaten to […]
For a change of pace, I will return to portraits of my brother Mike for a while. He is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. Mike currently lives in a geriatric group home back east. I took photos of him for many years; since I moved away I’ve been painting compositions related to my experience with […]
I like this double portrait. I kept the lines simple, as I imagine Paul Klee would have done. I think I was able to capture some emotion in this portrait.
I’ve mentioned before that both my parents loved music. Dad let my older brother Mike* play on the piano and I’m sure they played classical music records all the time when he was around. For a time Mike responded. I’m told he could hum entire movements from symphonies. By the time I came on the scene, Mike […]
The theme of today’s experiment is the same as yesterday’s: the difference between what is inside one’s mind and what can be expressed. Generally speaking, this difference (that I call ‘pressure’) is the impetus for creativity. An artist must somehow regulate the release of pressure in a manner pleasing to himself or herself.
I recently bought a turntable that has a computer connection. Now comes the fun part: recording hundreds of my vinyl records that I bought in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of my long playing records are folk music: Irish ulleann bagpipes pipes; English Northumbrian folksongs; Jewish Klezmer music; Old Timey (pre-bluegrass) American music; French hurdy […]
I saw a tree hugger today. It was another tree!
My father loved classical music. Once, I took a picture of him playing. I was hoping to find it. Dad enjoyed playing much more than others enjoyed listening. This is what I imagine he felt like as he was playing. I think it is better to use my memory instead of finding old snapshots.
My brother Mike is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. He was diagnosed shortly after autism was classified in 1952 DSM. Mike was at home until I was 10 years old. My parents then made the decision to send him to Willowbrook where they thought they would take care of him. We visited just about every […]
I will leave the reader to discover the visual metaphors in this piece.
