Fractured Heart

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Sometimes I start with an idea or a photo as a jumping off point, but this was totally spontaneous. Sometimes that's just the ticket to loosen me up, and an antidote to tight painting. It was fun. Reminds me that painting doesn't have to be "work."

Circles

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The design for this one came to me many, many years ago. I met a gal who was selling her abstract work/prints to hotels, and I thought that might be something I could do (this was long before I was making anything close to a living with my art). I hadn't done abstract before, so I started mucking about in Photoshop, trying to come up with something interesting there before I committed it to canvas. I have a tablet and stylus, so I just started making random shapes and colors with it. It took me quite a while to come up with something I liked, and this was one of those.

I made a whole slew of images on this theme, and then tried to paint one really big. It was a total disaster, and I promptly abandoned the whole concept! But recently I pulled up those images again on my computer and thought - maybe they would work small. And I think this one does.

Transitions

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So, this one is really simple, but I like it a lot. I can see myself exploring more with this theme.

Four Times Over

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I started with the dark lines on this one, putting them down sort of randomly. Then I put in the color around it, making sure to vary the amounts of MID and LIGHT values.

Pointing Up

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I've been looking on Pinterest a lot lately, for ideas. I find a lot of abstract paintings that I like. Not that mine comes close to what I've collected, but I'm slowly making my way towards "trying to say what I want to say."

Bouquet

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This is another one for which I used a photo for inspiration. It was a bouquet of flowers - can you tell? This may be my favorite so far. I LOVE how the colors turned out!

When Lemons Fly

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Ok, I used a photo of fruit as inspirations for this. But they weren't lemons - they were pears, believe it or not.

Oasis in the Desert

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I used a desert scene as inspiration for this one. I added the oasis. I felt all the pink needed some green and turquoise to balance it. And a little spiral on the right side.

Field of Flowers

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After my fist abstract I went whole hog working on the second one. I ended up wiping it off about 5 times before I realized it just wasn't working. I needed some sort of plan. So I started looking through pictures on Pinterest for ideas. I realized I could take a photo I liked, use the colors and values, arrange them however I like, and make it completely abstract! And it worked!

Some of you have asked to see the photo, but unfortunately I didn't save it, and can't remember where I found it. Sorry about that.

Moon Over the Plains

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When I was in high school I aspired to be an abstract artist. I remember visiting an art museum in Houston with my grandparents once. All I wanted to see were the abstract rooms, even though they kept telling me the other rooms were cool too. I'm pretty sure I went along with them reluctantly, but I savored the abstract rooms. When I got to college and all the other kids were doing abstract, I decided to try realism, found I had a passion for it, and ended up with a career in it.

Lately I've been needing a change and trying out lots of things. I bought watercolors, pastels, a kiln for fusing glass, yarn for knitting, material for quilting, and more. I find I am interested in each thing for a little while, and then I get bored. Doing abstract with oils was the first thing I got REALLY excited about and see tons of potential for. And heck, maybe I'll get bored with this too, but I figure I can try it with all my other media as well.

Thank you for joining me on this exploratory journey with abstract #1. Who knows where it will go!