Transcendental doodling

I have trouble with the idea of calling some of my work "abstract art." I guess that's what many people would call it but I just came up with a new term for it. Transcendental doodling, that's how it feels. I've always enjoyed doodling little squares. Sometimes little squares in bigger squares. It's not really much more complex than that. However they do make me really fundamentally happy in that simplicity and I thought  I'd take a moment to explain how they came about. The first one which was more than a doodle is this huge piece which still hangs in my house. Originally it was a bit of problem solving on my part.

Behind it is an elaborate track I routed in for my son's brio engines when he was about 3. He's 15 now so it hasn't been turned over for some time. It's emulsion and glitter. The colour which was on my wall and the glitter I was using for hand made cards. I still love it.
They remind me of so many things. I love cities at night, but the image I've adored the most comes from a book of natural wonders. It's an aerial photo of the Guilin Hills in china taken at dusk with the rice fields shining in little squares of golden light. It's so magical. This picture of the scene in daylight is wonderful.

Most of my work involves realistic rendering of people, animals or scenes so painting little squares is like sending my brain to a buddhist retreat to recover. The squares and the colours paint themselves.

 It really is like doodling. I sometimes lose myself completely in them. They're how the world looks inside my head, maybe they're little clusters of sparkling thoughts dancing away along my neural pathways. I always feel refreshed and happy when they tell me they're finished. Here's todays transcendental doodle, done while enjoying sunday morning telly :)