My older brother Mike, autistic, low functioning and nonverbal, lived at home until I was 10 years old. I posted a picture taken from that period yesterday and painted a reference portrait. My mother looked everywhere for a place that would take care of Michael. Nobody knew what was wrong with him back in the […]
I loved doing the graffiti sketches of the past couple of months, and I’m sure I will return to more draftsman-like subjects, but for now I want to challenge myself in a different arena. Here is the basis for the art to follow: My Analog Past Everything is digital these days. These days? How about for the […]
Most of you who have read my blog within the past month or so know that Mom passed away on February 20. My posts have concentrated on the events related to Mom: her 90th birthday party; her trouble getting around the house; my return visit after she was admitted to the hospital and wasn’t doing well. […]
An article in today’s New York Times about the plans to close the Brooklyn Developmental Center (BDC) in New York City sparked some memories in me. My brother Mike is autistic, nonverbal and low functioning. I visited him at the BDC when he was an inmate there. Inmate seems such a harsh word, but it was a fitting term in the era […]
My brother Mike is 65 today (11-11-14). He is my older brother, autistic, very low functioning, and has never said a word in his whole life. I began this blog to relate my experiences in trying to get to know him – a daunting task, when you consider I never knew if he knew who […]
Today’s watercolor study: I used the same earth-tone schema as yesterday. It was fun to scrape up the rough-surfaced paper to see what would happen when I painted it. But today I just used cold pressed paper without making any changes to the surface. I started with dry paper and drew my Van Dyke brown-laden […]
It is so very sad that Robin Williams found no way to alleviate his suffering. I’ve read many of the tweets from people who treasured his genius and whose lives had been touched by his wonderful gift. There are a smattering of tweets who call attention to the serious problem of depression and suicide, but […]
My younger brother doesn’t remember much of our older brother Mike. Michael is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. He went away to Willowbrook when I was about 10 years old, which means younger brother (YB) was about 6. My parents told me that they tried to shield us from Michael. It didn’t work for me, […]
Everybody has a position in which they are comfortable. I’m not sure if this is the case with the owner of the hands in today’s study. M___ was a classmate of my brother Michael at his Day Program. For those of you reading my blog for the first time, Mike is my older brother who is […]
Sensual eating How should I put this? Mike was always a sensual eater. Why use utensils when you can feel the texture in your hands? I suppose it adds to the complete culinary experience… assuming you have someone to clean up after you. Brief recap For those of you reading my blog for the first […]
