Retina Paths

Yesterday and today I worked on a new drawing which I am calling
"Retina Paths." It's quite detailed as you can see!  As with most
mandala-like drawings, I began from the center and (at that time) had
no idea what I was creating.  After completion of the concentrated
center area I began to see what looked like four sea horses floating
in space.  The T-shaped posts radiating outward from them seemed in
some way to be providing energy for their "birth." As I began to think
of this birth, I began to see them suspended much like tiny babies in
an embryonic sac of fluid.  At this point, after completing the four
radiating arcs of dots for each of the six T-posts (24 arcs), I tried
to define a shape around the entire system of dots using a series of
V-shaped dashed lines -- all of which I tried to connect on each of
their sides.  This resulted in a 17-pointed "star." To emphasize their
tips, I added 17 bold dots.  At this point, I was still uncertain
where to "go" with the design, so I attempted to "fill" the valley's
of the star's perimeter with water droplet "objects" that were large
and open -- to enable me to use them in a way that would somehow
relate to "paths" originating from the open points of the dashes of
the star. What resulted from this idea was the beginning of what
looked like a series of tentacles radiating from a jelly fish.  After
completing about 1/4 if them, I realized my sea horses (and even the
jelly fish) were "over-shadowed" by a new image.  I was beginning to
think these "tentacles" were more like the fine capillaries of the
interior of the back of one's eye -- and that the sea horses were
forming the center of what looked like a highly active retina.  I
began to think of all the tiny dots as "pieces of light" energy
heading for the central retina.  I've always liked to think of these
dots as "piece of information" also -- and that this information was
being gathered via the many pathways that "fed" the eye.  This initial
gathering process appears to have locked in on something just by the
fact that it forms (now) a highly organized arrangement of the
information. I like to think of this arrangement much like the way
iron filings organize themselves in the presence of a strong magnetic
field.  The "pull" in this case, is simply the light energy
"arranging" itself with the help of other parts of the mind (the
brain).  This entire process I tried to capture in image form -- with
an emphasis on the pathways and information (dots) inside of them. 
Hence the title "Retina Paths." This drawing involved the use of a
beam compass to establish a 9 inch radius circle for what later would
be the end point for each path.  The drawing took approximately 16
hours to complete.