This new drawing in my studio is a perfect example of how the creative process can bring surprises along with it.

It is a new version of the same gesture that I had drawn in graphite powder just days before. (See below).

The newer drawing plays with contour lines in brown marker. The thing about markers is you can’t erase anything. Imagine my surprise when before I even knew how or why, a bird’s nest materialized!

Conceptual as my drawings are, sometimes symbols from the subconscious just bubble up. I have been thinking about my two homelands (Cuba and the USA) a lot lately…they seem to have become two fragile spotty eggs gnarled in my wild hair.

The first version is closer to what I had conceived, but the second, with a little help from my subconscious, is actually far more interesting.