Boundaries

 

Boundaries, 6 x 6 inches, Oil Pastel on Paper

This painting, finished today, has been the most fun so far. It became much more painterly as I worked with the shapes and colors, so that in some instances, I created small paintings within the larger one. When I start one of these paintings, I break into the paper with pencil and then begin to intuitively select colors without thinking. If I catch myself thinking, I back away and start again. I rotate the paper as I work trying to create a painting that works from any direction like sculpture. At a certain point, I limit the colors and then work with the intuitively chosen palette to finish the painting. 

My grandaughter Emilie, who is 7 and critiques all of my paintings, asked this morning what this was a painting of. She thought it looked like the Eiffel Tower (she is half French). I told her it was an abstract painting that I made up and it was a like a light went on. She said she had learned about abstract painting in art class and she really liked the colors. I feel like I am trying to do what she intuitively knew how to do before she went to school and has now forgotten. It is not an easy thing.