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!