Balancing Act

Part of creating abstraction is playing with some of the basic elements of art, lines, shapes, colors, and balance.  Today's abstract work was an exercise that dealt with all of these elements.  It began as a collage that combined some handmade and found papers.  Dark lines and dots were the first inspiration.  I added some complimentary colors, red and green, but was not pleased.  A dash of purple didn't help.  As layers began to build, the work wasn't coming together for me.  I added some stenciling, then some paint markers, then some more paint.  I let it sit for several days.  The balance was off.  I had lines dissecting the paper in ways that didn't work.  I added some black paint. It was too dark.  Still I was not happy.  It sat for a few more days and I worked on other compositions. Finally in a fury I painted the three white circles.  Suddenly it seemed to work.  A balance of light and dark, rectangular and circular forms, and textures came together in a cohesive abstraction that I call Leaving the Dark.  The title is both figurative and literal.  Literally I moved from black to white and figuratively I felt an accomplishment the took me from a cranky, dark place to a light hearted mood. It was all about the balance. I am happy. Reproductions of this abstract collage painting are available from my website. Details are here. You might also like some of my other abstract work. Check out my abstract gallery here.