Art as Therapy: New Abstract Painting

"A Pensive Spring", 9x9" Mixed media on paper. Available. 

I've had a hellish couple of weeks. Without going into too much detail, my dad was diagnosed with a serious illness, and passed away shortly thereafter. It was fast and suffering appeared to be short-lived, as he seemed reasonably well up until quite recently. I don't think everything has totally sunk in yet... I still feel a bit disoriented and... well... off.

I'm not much of a talker. Never have been. I process things differently than other people. I can't be one of those folks who talk endlessly about their feelings and seem to just sort themselves out in the process. Oh, I do have a couple friends that I can explain my spinny, disjointed thoughts to, that actually seem to understand what I'm saying. Or they pretend to. I am visual, and I like to work out my issues in a visual way. It's just how I'm built. But this one... well, it's going to take me a bit before I can even start to process how I'm feeling. Until I'm ready, the best thing I can do for my mental state, is to go into my studio and get to work.

Luckily I have a pile of work that I have already started. I have 5 or 6 of these little abstracts that I've begun, a commission piece that is about 3/4 finished, and a large abstract that is in that I-don't-know-where-its-going stage. I've got a pile of art journals in various states of preparation... some board books that have had a few pages sanded and gessoed, a couple with backgrounds started, and a handmade book of watercolour paper that has been assembled, gessoed and ready to go. If I had to start something from scratch right now I think I would probably just close the door and walk away. I feel like I've got nothing in there to give at the moment... but pushing around some colour I can do.

This piece was at the top of the pile. It took about 2 hours to finish it... just enough time to get in the zone and really sink into what I was doing. I felt so much better by the time I washed out my brushes and put my paints away. The green was calming. It reminded me of days spent outside, in touch with nature and away from the noise of the city. It was good.