Consider the lowly doodle: spawned by boredom, born of the subconscious, a minidream that seeps from fingertips.
Researchers claim that two out of three Americans doodle at least occasionally, sketching curlicues, bluebirds, bloodshot eyes, abstract nothings.The doodle is a common denominator among cavemen and moderns, parents and kids, presidents and peons. It sneaks onto legal papers, kitchen counters, Yellow Pages and library books.
Oodles of doodles. Yet, in the realm of art, nothing gets less respect. Tattoos and graffiti have admirers. Doodles are disdained.
Even the word sounds frivolous, like poodles, noodles and cock-a-doodle-do. Imagine the response when a journalist asks, "Do you doodle, sir?"
But if this art be nonsense, why do so many people practice it?
Experts say that the squiggles offer an emotional release and that the images carry symbolic meaning.
For instance, curves generally suggest an accepting person; straight lines indicate rigidity. An optimist draws high on the page; a pessimist along the bottom; an anarchist scribbles off the page.
Shirley Karp, a Scottsdale retiree and doodlist for half a century, can't explain her handiwork. But whenever she picks up the phone, circles and zigzags appear.
"My hand moves, and I'm not aware of it," Karp said. "Maybe I'm trying to fill a gap in my life. . . . My husband was a doodler. He's doodling up in heaven now."
Phoenix Vice Mayor Frances Emma Barwood describes herself as a "notorious doodler" who depends on the idle craft to get through endless meetings.
"It's very relaxing," she said. "It clears my mind and makes me concentrate better."
Barwood said she doesn't plan images - they just flow from feelings into ink. A recent City Council agenda was adorned with caricatures of her colleagues, plus flags and elephants. (Yes, she's a Republican.)
For some, the drive to doodle can become obsessive. Shirley Ing of Phoenix draws relentlessly, even on her husband's work papers.
"It's ruining my marriage," she said with a laugh. "I'm a terrible doodler. I mean, it's so intense. He just gets furious. I start out with spirals. I draw lots of straight lines through them. Then it's stars, flowers, lightning bolts, faces . . . ."
As Shirley spoke, her husband bellowed in the background, "Stop it! You're doing it again."
Shirley giggled.
"I was doodling on a piece of paper," she confided. "One of his receipts."
U.S. District Judge Earl Carroll draws courtroom scenes, dogs and trees during trials. A law clerk once framed some of his work, and Carroll occasionally gives lawyers portraits at the close of a case.
The judge said his sketches are meaningless but serve a vital function in the justice system: "They keep my attention focused on what I'm doing."
There seems to be no serious literature on doodling, a glaring academic oversight.
Phoenix Library shelves contain just two books on the subject. One, "O.J.'s Legal Pad,"is a spoof on what O.J. Simpson might have drawn during his murder trial. The other is a comiclike paperback called "The Doodle Dictionary."
Nancy Nelson and Alice Landry, the dictionary authors, contend that doodling is as common as dreaming and that it provides a similar peephole to the subconscious:
"Your squibbles are telling you something about hidden desires, fantasies, fears or even the way you cope with life in general."
Although admitting that Freudian significance may be imprecise, Nelson and Landry offer a semi-serious guide to doodle interpretation. Here is what the two art therapists say about someone who draws apples:
"A wise and loving doodler. Apples symbolize healing power and fertility. Did you draw an apple being eaten? You may have a large sexual appetite. A row or bunch of apples? You're deceitful. (Remember Adam?)"
Sonya Blackman, an artist and psychologist at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, said doodling is cathartic and symbolic.
"The Doodle Dictionary" says horizontal lines are feminine and self-protective; vertical strokes are masculine and assertive. Large images hint at an inferiority complex; tiny pictures suggest depression or inadequacy.
What you draw may be as telling as how or where you do it. Anyone who incessantly doodles his or her name is an egomaniac. Someone who draws animals is disclosing a sense of identity. (Bugs hint at a phobia; domestic animals suggest docility.) And people who never doodle are just plain weird.