Cosmic Counterpoint is a painting of her eldest son, Christopher, when he returned home for a Christmas visit. He had left England a proper young gentleman and recent graduate from an English boarding school and after attending university in the United States for one and half years, returned as a “hippie”. Although only on a short two week visit, my mother felt the need to immortalize the moment of this transformation. My mother being somewhat a free spirit herself, embraced my brother’s new appearance, philosophy and expanded approach to the world.

The painting is also a departure from her earlier portraits and is the first to have the subject backed and surrounded by pertinent symbols related to the subject. I’m not sure exactly how this happened but I think it’s the result of the synergy of working on the painting with my brother and the freedom of just painting a portrait for herself and not as a conventional commission or for a prospective sale like so many other portraits at this time in her career.

One of the most striking things on viewing the painting is the pose which is very characteristic of Christopher. My mother was particularly proud of getting the realistic perspective or foreshortening required to show my brother’s very long legs in such a compressed space and along with the very natural drape of the wrists and hands, that and the direct gaze, all make for an arresting pose. Next one takes in the striking clothing which are a very real representation of the alterations my brother had made to his formally conventional clothing. The prominent bands of complimentary color in the background represent the human aura that we were all interested in after reading some of the Theosophical Society writings. Overlaying that one can see the large astrological symbol for Taurus and peaking out from behind the aura is a rendition of the ringed planet Saturn, for its astrological representation of ones karma, justice, life lessons and responsibilities and which figured prominently in his Natal chart. Of course, one couldn’t call oneself a hippie without a suitable water pipe or hookah as an aid for ones spiritual explorations. In the upper right is a representative of his spirit guide. He had just finished reading all the books by Lobsang Rampa and was quite taken by them. Next to that is the mantra “Om mani padme hum” written in Tibetan even though I think the intention was for it to be written in Sanskrit. Additionally, in the upper left is the Eye of Horus to represent my brothers study of the myths and legends of ancient Egypt. Around his neck on a leather string, is a simple brass Sun symbol, and relates to his interests in the Inca culture. Overall, one can see he had a fairly eclectic collection of spiritual beliefs and areas of study, a real reflection of the times.

Preliminary Sketches

Below are a series of quick sketches that I came across and immediately recognized as my brother. Along with them is a photograph I found that was made at the same time.

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