Lab Book #1; C451, Caged Mind

This painting was an early example of the developing doodleism concept. Most of the material came from doodles done in the margins of my undergraduate notes from my chemistry 451 course. Perhaps the very first painting where I used a lab note for a painting was 'Master of the Margin' which was sold at the Artisan's alley. I have (film) photo of it remaining and would like to scan it and post it in the future. In 'Caged Mind' a funny looking man with a goatee (bottom right) looks onwards into a tangle of imagery including a whale, a fish net, a man holding a cage, a trivial pursuit piece....but where's Waldo? Looking back on the doodle pieces I see a slow change in the underlying theme. In 'caged mind', the composition is like an impenetrable net, challenging the viewer to cross it. The doodle paintings has similar themes initially, until 'Lab Book #6 Spanky's fantastic Cathedral' which invited viewers to stroll down the path and enter the abstracted building. In Lab Book #13 (painted in 2007) there is an inviting beach, and in the most recent installment, Lab Book #14, Three Ringed Flying Circus on Wheels (Pt.1), the Lion Tamer, the viewer is placed inside a circus tent witness to some pretty wild entertainment spectacles (to post soon). I plan to make several parts to the Three Ring concept, thus creating a series within the series! In retrospect, I decided to assign this work to the Lab Book Series, giving it Lab Book# 1 designation. 

Lab Book #1; C451 Caged Mind, watercolour 11 x 15", hot press, 2003 (No. 1415)