30 x 40

Oil on Canvas

Abstract work is the hardest to try to describe in a paragraph because it simply comes from somewhere besides an object in front of you, or a memory of something that used to be in front of you, or a memory of an object. I think most painters gravitate to abstract the more experience they have as painters because it is just challenging and invigorating to paint from nothing but your own knowledge of color, shape, form and all the other things paintings have to draw from to be successful. I think, to be honest, that all my work is, at its core, abstract. I take forms and pare them down to such a basic level that even though you can tell it is grass or a building or even a person, it is just a slash of color I want it to be, not even considering what it actually is in reality. But pure abstract work is hard and takes me a long time because it is layer on layer and colors playing off colors and many times mine needs time to breathe between sessions, but they don't just pop out, they take thought and a lot of it. I think to be a good abstract painter you have to know your tools, so in that way I am different from some in that I do not think just tossing paint onto a canvas, without a specific recognizable object is abstract, the way I feel about the word.  I think painting abstractly is truly a result of years of learning, seeing, creating, then doing. I did not do as many pure abstracts this year for some reason. I never really aim to do anything more than anything else and think non artists might not understand that. You go in, and who knows what the muse is going to be that day. It is part of the mystery of it all.