A Painting is a Thing

Hopewell Barn, mixed media on wood panel, 12 x 12 inches

When I was just beginning to paint, I worked in watercolor and made pictures of flowers and landscapes. My mom loved my work and hung my paintings in her house. She was so proud.

Mom has opined for years about my abstract paintings. “Why can’t you paint barns and covered bridges like you used to?” I live in Wyeth country, after all, and fans of abstraction are few and far between. 

But I benefited so much from working abstractly. I understand now what it means to create a painting…a work of art…not just a reproduction of a photograph. I had spent so many years focused on how things looked, that I was still unsure how to express how they felt. When you finally see the beauty in a painted stroke, independent of any subject matter, you start to see the painting as a thing itself.

So Mom, here’s your barn. It was accepted into an exhibition this week, and it sold immediately…but I’m pretty sure it’s not just because it’s a barn.