Ken O'Neil left the security of a life as an engineer and entrepreneur in the halcyon years of California's Silicon Valley to follow his bliss and pursue a career as a painter and writer. If you have ever wondered how an artist conceives an abstract painting, this book takes you on one artist's journey. From written notes in journals, gathered over more than forty years of world travel in places both familiar and remote, Ken O'Neil built the foundation of his art. In this book the reader can travel with him and observe the transformation from notes to a painting."What impresses me most, upon seeing Ken O'Neil's monotypes, is their inspired ability to engage the mind and transport the spirit. His expression of elegant ideas, borne through the medium of monotype printmaking, requires the creation of explicit syntax within an expansive language. Ken O'Neil not only forged his unique visual language; he mastered it, and has raised it up to poetry."--Michael Castillo, owner and masterprinter, Hand Graphics, Santa Fe, New Mexico"Ken O'Neil is a student of his own journal, at once the best and worst teacher."--Larry Bell, Taos, New Mexico" Ken's] art and the profound memories that he shares are one: as with his work, as with his whole life."--Sam Scott, Santa Fe