Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

Burchfield created abstract motifs for the ratcheting sound a cricket makes with its hind legs. He studied its anatomy and exaggerated the angles to become audio-cryptograms as graphic representations of simultaneous visual and acoustic perceptions.

Burchfield's notation, "Carlisle's" refers to the Carlisle House at 850 East 4th Street in Salem, Ohio, which was diagonally to the left across the street from the Burchfield family’s home as viewed from the front porch. Grandma Snyder, who was Alice Burchfield’s stepmother, lived there with her daughter, Mrs. Ida Carlisle. It site appears in many artworks. In some, the trees next to the house share the shapes of Aimless Brooding, which is one of the Conventions for Abstract Thoughts.

Content by Burchfield Scholar Nancy Weekly for the exhibitions, A Dream World of Imagination: Charles E. Burchfield's Golden Year and A VAST, tiny WORLD: Burchfield's Insects and Spiders.