A Surprising Journey to Abstract Art

I wasn’t always an abstract painter. For most of my life, I painted representational works (a realistic representation of subjects from the world). However, I caught the abstract painting bug and haven’t looked back since. 

What is abstract painting? A good definition is that it’s a departure from reality in the way imagery is depicted. There’s a continuum of abstraction: For example, a flower could be painted in an impressionistic style (slightly abstracted) or in a very abstract style where the viewer may not be aware that a flower is the subject. In fact, some abstract art has no subject in the real world—the artist is purely exploring color or ideas from their mind. 

My journey into abstract art started after years of painting in oils in a relatively realistic manner.  I felt that I needed to add something more exciting to my practice, so I started taking online courses and live workshops to explore a whole new world of abstract painting using acrylic paints as my primary medium.

I got hooked! I went fully into abstract acrylic painting, and to this day, I continue to experiment, learn more from fellow accomplished artists, and incorporate new exciting techniques into my painting practice. I love sharing my tips and process with other artists, whether they are new to abstract art or they have experience painting abstracts and need some added inspiration.

I try to paint every day and I find the more often I paint, the more in tune or “in the flow” I am with my work.

How about you? Where are you in your abstract artist journey?