Abstract art actually does stem from something real. That something is just transformed in a way so it is not entirely recognizable. There are varying degrees of abstraction as well.
I mean, really isn't all art abstracted to some degree? You can't possibly have every person on earth look at a piece of art and instantly define it, even if it is a realistic picture of a bowl of cherries. Sure, they look like cherries and they seem good enough to eat but why are they there? Do the cherries represent something? And what if I took that image of a bowl of cherries and I ran a brush through the wet paint, rendering it unrecognizable but maintaining the cherry red color. Would it remind you of cherries? Maybe it would make you think of pain, or of love. Perhaps if the painting had two cherries resting in a bowl together you would also think of love or of innocence or seduction. I could go on an on but the point for me is art is what you make of it. I think I do have a responsibility as an artist to know what I'm trying to convey when I create something. I have to be honest and say I don't always know. Sometimes I paint based on my mood and just reach for the colors that feel right at the moment. Lately I've created non-objective pieces based on a feeling of calm or a rush of serenity or energy and than later painted, very clearly, a not so abstract butterfly or two hovering around. Is it abstract or non-objective or both? What does it mean?
Let me start with how I started to understand abstraction. I took a drawing class in high school that really helped define it for me. We had to start with a realistic image. I chose a snake for some reason. We had six stages to transform this real image into an abstracted piece. We had a few guidelines, like using complimentary colors in one stage and secondary colors in another, incorporating lights and darks and breaking up the image into shapes. This is my assignment that I found tucked inside an old sketchbook. (excuse the poor quality. these are *gasp* over twelve years old!)
The final stage we used to create a painting. And "Snake" was born.
I did have an anxious time painting this. I remember it like it was yesterday, it's so clear to me. I had my painting propped up on an easel at the back of the art room and I stood there confused and wondering if I was doing it right. How could I know if I was doing it right? It wasn't supposed to really look like anything! This was the first abstract painting I ever did and it scared me a bit. I did dive back into landscapes in college and painted some of the landscapes I showed you in my last blog entry. They didn't hold my interest too long because the fun of abstraction tickled the back of my head and made me wonder what else there was to explore outside of the natural world. What kind of world could I create for myself?
tomorrow... part three: freedom of expression
