Often, when I am headed to bed, I stop in at my son Ben’s room, to see what he’s up to. He’ll be working on some piece of art, and we’ll chat for a moment about it.

The other night, he was working on a self-portrait. It was a realistic depiction, but in a style reminiscent of a Renaissance prince. We talked about the style, what parts looked just like him, and what parts might need tweaking.

I went to bed, and then in the morning this was on his Facebook:

I didn’t get a story about why the realistic face was gone, and why the self-homunculus is in its place instead. This picture looks much less like him, but says much more about him. He changed it from a picture of him to a picture about him. Ben has always impressed me with his art, not just as a technical skill, but as an expression of deeper ideas.

As always, I am proud of him, and thrilled to see what he creates.