MIXED MEDIA ABSTRACT ART: PATTERNED FIELD PAINTINGS

This Series began as An Experiment in Abstraction – How much can be taken out?

It seemed that when artists abstract a subject, they take out areas of a scene that gives it a new character - that of brush strokes, droplets, change the shapes, etc.

As an experiment, I set out to see how much information could be removed before a viewer could no longer "read" or recognize the realistic objects in the scene.

The mood was retained, with bright colors, and painting little squares over the landscape, changed its character, but did not produce the active brushstrokes and freedom of expression that I looked for. I did, however, learn a lot about how much can be taken out and still see the subject. Also notice how the rectangular emphasis removes the illusion of depth. The above Tree of Life reminds me of a quilt.

In many of these small pictures, I painted the rectangular motif with metallic paint, using a very small brush. The metallic paints were in similar colors to the background, and had to be placed precisely so that when the viewer moves, the details and the light seems to change. No collage and no stamp printing was done. A stencil would not work, as each landscape was too different from the previous one.

People seemed to like them, and many of them have been sold. After I had created a dozen or so of these I was eager to move on to something else. Sometimes I revisit a theme or series.
If I ever do more, I may try collage papers.

©by Ruth Zachary