Abstract Art: Bones and Truth

This is quite long. I hope you stay with me to the finish. Its worth it!

As I see it,  the legacy of creating a body of abstract work  is bones and truth.

It is in the glorious Freedom the Abstract genre allows us, the inner artist can be fully revealed.

 

We are stripped bare.

Right back to bare bones.  To the hidden Truths that lie within.

Truth is freedom.

 

 

 

Abstracts, a Legacy

 

Dance, like you really mean it.

Sing, as if you are Adele.

Leap, convinced that you will make it!

 

Why are Abstracts so difficult?  

What holds us back?

 

As I mentioned previously,  Abstract art is Non – Representational.  There are no trees, boats, faces, flowers to copy from.

We are out there, in the forest…. alone!

With ourselves.

 

 

Nothing To Look At!

We have nothing to use, to draw upon, but our innate feelings, thoughts, knowledge and our own unique persona.  Whatever makes us,  US.

That is what we have, to use to create our Abstract art.

Perhaps that is what intimidates us about Abstracts.

 

 

 

We want to be understood  

Nearly every artist I’ve met, is sensitive.

We have to be.  We scan, we intake from all the sights and sounds around us.

We synthesise from our surroundings non stop.   That takes enormous sensitivity to do so. It also requires vast amounts of energy others do not consider that we are using.

 

We artists do want to be understood.  Yet, we’re so sensitive to so many layers and nuances around us, bombarding us.

Perhaps its a slight glance away, or a subtle downshift in tone upon one single word. We take note.

That is how sensitive artists generally are….. so I have noticed.

 

 

Being so sensitive,  we are apprehensive of being misunderstood.

Often therefore, we think if we paint a photographic representational image,  we know, we will be clearly understood. That message rings…. loud and clear.

It is safer.    And known.  By all.

And  yet we still yearn…… to be understood.

 

 

Revealing 

Abstract art more so than the other genres,  is so revealing.

Each color.  Each brush stroke.

Every tonal nuance and gestural direction you create,  leaves an echo of what is in your soul.

 

We shy from revealing too much.

Therefore,  we may just shy away from painting in those wonderful, wild, rampant freedoms of Abstracts.    Continuing perhaps to paint the photo. In safety.

 

 

 

 

But,  I want to fly.

I want to own the sky.

And so I shall.

……in my paintings

and in their legacy

 

 

 

Transitory Moments in Time 

Abstracts are like deep reflections.

Of the emotions and moods, colors, textures, layers, scars, tones,  the person is experiencing at that very moment in time.

Fleeting as they may be.

Transitory…… like smoke swirls and wisps in a storm.

 

 

Self Discovery 

Abstract Painting  –   it is a journey of Self Discovery,  self understanding.  self acceptance.

It is that, much more than gaining the acceptance, approval and understanding of the public, of our friends, of our family.

 

 

 

 

 

Born To Create 

 

I embrace the freedom.

I own the sky.  I walk through The door.

When I shut the outside off and create from within.

 

 

I believe we are all born to create. Something.

in some way.

 

Some are poets, some are musicians, some are painters….

but none of us can release the true glory within and leave our own legacy behind.

Until

we embrace the freedom.  own the sky.  walk through the door.

 

 

 

 

Lest We Forget 

It is the  – revealing-  of the artist within that truly captures the hearts and minds of others.

Its not  that we reveal and capture the minute precise details of a scene on canvas, paper, text or photograph.

(We don’t really need to be able to identify the 258 year old oak tree next to Brown’s Butchers, on the corner of Iron Street and Elk Avenue, in Cincinnati, on July 17, 1996.)

Sometimes, details are boring.   Inferences, insinuations, suggestions can be much more…. intriguing, yes?

 

 

 

The Paintings Below 

Each one of these abstract images below, I’ve chosen because they continue to deeply resonate within me.  They remain,  part of me.

 

The collection is a good, but brief,  overall summation.

 

Every creation reflects a piece, a glimmer of what resides within.  The truth of me is uncovered in these images and paintings.

 

 

A part of myself is revealed in each.

This is what it means –  to be an artist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting representational things, flowers and skies, earth and sea…..  I love doing these.

And I will always paint them.

 

 

But,

I want to fly.

I want to own the sky.

And so I shall.

……in my abstract paintings

 and

in their legacy          

 

 

 

 

Summary

This is the final in the Abstract series!

 

If you haven’t had a chance to see the others,  they are

Abstracts  Own the Sky 

Abstracts A Definition 

Colors I Love 

The Door,  Sharon Stackpole