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 I hear lotsa people say “But I just don’t understand abstract art!” and I bet I wouldn’t paint abstractly if I had to understand it!  As I was growing up surrounded by all sorts of art, and artists, the subject of understanding it - any of it - never came up.  It just is.

    Enjoying abstract art is probably helped by an open mind and welcoming imagination.  Do you like the colors, the designs; do you feel the energy in swirling lines; do geometric forms remind you of childhood times playing with blocks and legos?  Do you see scenic elements that might be hills or buildings? How does the work affect your mood?

    Visitors to my studio often ask “What is it?”, to which I can only respond by asking what they see.  Anything a viewer sees in an abstract painting is definitely there, as far as I’m concerned - I could have painted it unknowingly!  We’re all influenced by what we see every day, of course.  An abstract artist translates that visual info through their own inner lens. 

    When studio and gallery visitors ask how I create my abstract art, since there’s no landscape or model before me, I’m reminded of the other arts.  Authors frequently report when working on a novel their characters take over and guide the story.  Composers hear new motifs rise from beyond their consciousness into their heads.  Sculptors say the sculpture is already inside the marble, they just chip away what isn’t part of the finished image.  For me, brush strokes make abstract patterns that want further brushwork; even if I begin with an idea that seems clear in my head, the art pretty much takes over.

    So I hope you’re not tied to a need to understand abstract art.  Or, if you truly want to, look at a work and let it show you what it’s saying, what it represents.  And, if I’m the artist, please let me in on its secret!!