New Beginnings

Hello and welcome to Studio Insights, a look at what’s happening within my art practice. This is a post I wrote a while back for my Substack page, and it made sense to me to transfer it to here as it relates to the shift in style in my art. It has taken a while to try to discover my style of painting, but, as it turns out, my style has actually found me. And it has taken me by surprise! The majority of my work over the past couple of years have mostly been florals, with the odd landscape thrown in here and there. However, as much as i liked painting these subjects, it turns out I didn’t love them. And that is key i feel. There is only so long we can create something we kind of like creating, and if we are doing it for other people, then it won’t be long until the fire runs out and we hit a wall. And that is kind of what has been happening for a while. Things however, suddenly changed when i started noticing a genre of painting i had never even considered before, and that was abstract art.

Now, i was one of those people who, if you would have asked me a couple of months ago, what i thought about abstract art, i would have replied that ‘I just don’t get it’. And I’m probably not alone in this assumption. I was guilty of thinking it was easy, and that it involved just throwing paint onto a surface with not much thought. And, maybe one of the most misunderstood elements of abstract, that it has no meaning. I have since discovered that nothing could be further from the truth. I started to look at abstract art on Instagram and began to notice elements that really caught my eye, and the more i looked, the more intrigued i became. I ploughed through YouTube videos and signed up for a couple of workshops and courses, and very quickly discovered that painting abstractly is by no means the easy option, that there are fundamental principles behind good abstract art, and that there is always meaning behind a piece of work. I was very intrigued and couldn’t wait to give it a go myself.

Now, although painting abstractly is by no means easy, i have found it to be totally liberating. I am loving how free and expressive if feels. And that is key, expressiveness. One of the things i have learnt, is that great abstract art comes from the soul. Now that might sound a bit woo woo, but by getting in touch with your feelings and painting what you feel, you will create art that no one else can. It becomes personal to you. I am not going to go into a deep dive on this just yet, this ‘painting what you feel’ was really solidified during a workshop i attended. But, abstract is where i am at, and i 100% want to develop it further. I have painted a few pieces now, and i am trying new things on each piece. There are still principles to follow, although it must be stressed that there are no ‘rules’, however by observing elements such as composition, values, colour etc, these can really make an piece of work ‘pop’; art will look more interesting if there are differences to look at. But i am loving trying new things, playing with new materials, pallet knives, sponges, credit cards, cling film and foil. I have even started to play around with collage. The sky is the limit when it comes to abstract art, and I’m loving it! I can’t wait to see what effects i can create going forward. And the great thing is, it really doesn’t matter if mistakes are made. They can be covered over, or scratched away. So, i guess i am officially an abstract artist. If you are intrigued by this genre and haven’t tried it, i’d urge you to give it a go. I’ve found it to be quite liberating. And, if you are an artist that just ’doesn’t get’ abstract art, then just take a closer look, every piece is different, and there will probably be something out there that will really grab your attention :)