Kershisnik has used Suzanne as a critic since they were married, but she recalls that it wasn't always easy. "I remember there was a painting called 'Going to California.' There was a man sitting in the foreground, and behind him were Joshua Trees. But there was also this funny purple thing, sort of like this protuberance, in the background."

"And he said, 'Well, what do you think about this, this and this in the painting?' And I told him that I liked all that, but I didn't like the purple thing. I said, 'It looks like you're trying to make the space interesting.' Brian got mad because he really didn't know what to do with the space and was truly just trying to make it interesting."

Fortunately for us, this is the type of experience — husband and wife resolving differences — that becomes fodder for Kershisnik's Kosmos.

There are also little moments, innocent communion with his children: "When I was looking at some paintings this morning and thinking about what I might say in this interview," Kershisnik said, "I was completely derailed by a picture my daughter Leah drew. It's kind of calligraphy spread over the page.

"She doesn't write yet, she just pretends. I said to her, 'What's that, Leah?' and she said, 'A letter to a jellyfish.' I thought to myself, 'I'm a novice.' "

"Tricks on Paper" is quintessential Kershisnik: what a joy.

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