Using Abstract Intuitive Art As Meditation

If you would like to try your hand and heart at an intuitive abstract painting all you need is your willingness to try. You don't have to be an artist. In fact, the worse you think you are at painting the more fun you will probably have with it. After all, you're not trying to create a masterpiece, you're trying to master peace.

This is what I recommend:

• Make sure your space is peaceful.
• Play some music in the background that is right for you.
• Have large canvas to work on so size does not confine you.
• Have plenty of colors to choose from that are right in front of you.
• As if you are a child, go into the act without a care in the world.
• Take delight in what you do and allow your instincts to take over.

Modern Abstract Painting

"Aria" Modern Abstract Painting

Who Created The First Abstract Landscape Painting?

Haystack by Claude Monet

In 1896 Wassily Kandinsky saw an exhibit of paintings by Monet which impressed upon his memory and shaped his intrigue for the non-recognizable.  Observing Monet's famous impressionistic Haystacks, here's what Kandinsky wrote:

"That it was a haystack the catalogue informed me. I could not recognize it. This non-recognition was painful to me. I considered that the painter had no right to paint indistinctly. I dully felt that the object of the painting was missing. And I noticed with surprise and confusion that the picture not only gripped me, but impressed itself ineradicably on my memory. Painting took on a fairy-tale power and splendour."

Winter Landscape by Wassily Kandisnky

It wasn't long before Wassily Kandinsky began creating abstract art.  Some call Kandinsky the father of abstract art.  But did he create the first abstract landscape painting?  He very well could have.   In Kandinsky's  "Winter Landscape" from 1909  you can see the impressionistic influence, but it's obvious the composition was created with the intent of painting from the mind and not from reality.   Some might argue that it was post-impressionist Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) who was the first to create an abstract landscape because of the way he distorted reality to express an idea. What do you think?

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

History of Art

Abstract Art is Ancient & New

Abstract art is not actually new.  It was created by the earliest indigenous people all over the world. They used simple lines, shapes, and forms to communicate with symbols. Children even create abstract art. They are known to enjoy finger painting, very intuitively actually, purely for the love of color and abstract form.  But, when it comes to genres in art movements and what exists in art museums, yes, abstract art (from recognized and celebrated artists only) came into existence around the 20th century.  So abstract art is ancient, primal, child-like, but it has been accepted in fine art museums only quite recently.

Picasso Satisfied the Rich with Odd & Absurd Art

There are those that agree with Picasso and believe the modern art movement was a swift trick to make money. I believe most of it was, but not all of it. In the end art is worth what someone is willing to pay. From the start of the modern art movement the rich were willing to spend a lot of money for strange abstract art they could not understand. It was and still is an investment, and if their artist reached celebrity status it was a good one. In Pablo Picasso's very words, it's clear he sold very odd artworks to satisfy people's desire for it because he liked being celebrated and rich. Does that make Picasso a bit of a sell out?

In his book Libro Nero, Giovanni Papini, quotes Picasso. On the subject of his own "modern art" Picasso said:

"From the moment that art ceases to be food that feeds the best minds, the artist can use his talents to perform all the tricks of the intellectual charlatan. Most people can today no longer look for consolation and exhilaration in art. The cunning, the rich, the idle, and the distillers of quintessences, want the new, the strange, the original, the extravagant, and the scandalous. I, from cubism onwards, have satisfied these gentlemen and their critics, with all the changing oddities that have come into my head. The less they understood, the more they admired me. Through amusing myself with all these absurd farces, I became celebrated, and very rapidly. For a painter, celebrity means sales, and consequently affluence. Today as you know, I am celebrated, I am rich."

Abstract Art Painting

"One Verse" abstract art painting

Abstract Art & The Need For Expression

As human beings we create nothing of our own, but only partake in the great creative process as conduits.  So the creative position of the artist is a humbling one.  The artist is essentially a channel.  This can't be any more obvious than in the abstract expressionist artist creating abstract art.  

As you probably know, abstraction indicates a departure from reality.  The need to produce and be a part of something other than the "real world" is a natural desire especially in bad times.  In Europe before the 19th century abstract paintings were not considered fine art by the elite. And it wasn't until World War II that the Americans experimented with abstract art or perhaps just found a need for this new form of expression.   Jackson Pollock was at the helm of this new direction later called abstract expressionism.

While caught in the moment, a modern abstract artist is often times unaware of just exactly what he or she is creating.  Exploration, uncertainties, and emotions all play out on the canvas. Pollock once said, "My method of painting is a natural growth out of a need.  I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them."  So for the expressionist, the visual outcome is important, but so too is the entire action of painting.  The action is like therapy for some. It is a means to channel feelings that need to be expressed for whatever the reason.

People question whether many modern abstract paintings are actually fine art.  It's hard for some to get past the sometimes carefree appearance and non traditional methods of applied paint and foreign matter that exist in today's contemporary art. But at the same time there is a huge following for abstract art. Perhaps the intrigue comes from a simple truth that abstract art is a very raw and unique visual language, appealing both in its form and substance from which it came.

Abstract Landscape Painting

"Waves of Light" abstract landscape painting

What Are Abstract Landscape Paintings?

Abstract landscape paintings are both abstract and a landscape. This method of painting can involve a great deal of creative expression either by altering scenery that exists in real life or by creating an imagined setting. The abstraction can be done without any symbolic significance or the abstraction can represent an idea and express the artists' inner emotions and feelings.

Abstract landscape paintings are intentionally different from what exists in real life. The artist has freedom to use an unrealistic color palette, exaggerate forms, and use details and texture that express just about anything the artist is feeling. Abstract landscape paintings can offer the viewer another way of seeing the natural environment. Some artists abstract the landscape by breaking it down into simple colors and shapes. Others go so far as to try and express the energy of life and nature. An abstract landscape painting can also communicate a sense of human emotion using the earth, air, fire, and water elements.

Because an abstract landscape painting utilizes characteristics from the abstract art movement it is not uncommon to find unusual materials in the painting. For example an artist can add sea shells, a leaf, sand, string, and many other materials. These paintings often have visual or tactile texture. The artist can also emphasize qualities of light in different ways by using iridescent or metallic paint.

Expressing the creative mind and spirit, abstract landscape paintings display an interwoven connection with man and nature. While the abstract landscape artist seeks to create a composition that is different and unique, there is always a subtle familiarity. It is this intrigue of strange and familiar that can capture the viewers attention and allow for a variety of interpretations. Because abstract landscape paintings share a sense of personal expression with relation to the environment , the creation of a painting can be very soulful and connected with the individual.

Abstract Art, Love it or Hate it?

Personally, abstract art strikes a cord for me. I love to create it and I love to observe it being created by other artists. That's why I created this blog. It would seem that people either love abstract art or they hate it. And if they are in between, well then they really don't know what abstract art is. It's freedom. It's expression. It's the exploration of the imagination. What do you think it is? Paint thrown on a canvas? I'd really like your opinion.