Towards Introspection - A Work-in-Progress

Why is it that when we visit a gallery and look at an abstract piece we hear comments like "I could do that!" and "It looks like a five-year old did it!" or "What the h--- IS it?" I guess it's because we really don't understand either the process or the product. In the latest edition of Watercolor Magic (April 2007)in an article by Caroline Purtell, Elaine Daily-Birnbaum says she "leans toward abstract at this point in her art life because of it's subtleness, its ambiguity and its highly personal nature". She says, "It's not 'in your face'; it requires some thought, some rumination; it encourages introspection."

It is true that with an abstract piece, it finds its own way. The artists adds, subtracts, manipulates and agonizes over which direction to take next. When painting a basic landscape, it is evident which direction to take and what steps need to be taken to achieve the finished product. This is not so evident with an abstract.

Pictured here is my latest abstract - in progress. Who knows what will come next?