Keeping a record of your painting process, including photos, dates and notes, is the best way to chart your creative path. I love to flip through the pages of my book to see what I was working on. Plus, I can notice any patterns or similarities in my work and fine tune my process from there.

“Lunch Break”, oil stick and acrylic paint on wood panel. 30x30 inches.

The abstract painting shown above, “Lunch Break”, was what I consider to be the first painting I made while thinking of making changes to my style. While wondering how I could add shapes and pattern towards the center of my work, I was honing in correcting some composition challenges that I felt I was having at the time. I completed this painting on July 6, 2022.

Paintings leading up to “Lunch Break” displayed an increase in shapes, but all felt contrived to me and what I didn’t realize was all of those paintings were leading up to the point where I could feel more free in my mark making.

“Kaleidoscope”, 24x24” abstract painting on wood panel.

“Kaleidoscope” and its cousin paintings, “Parakeet” and “Up in the Air” marked a breakthrough in my practice. I was finally producing paintings to meet the goal that I had made for myself back in July of 2022, and I was able to accomplish the goal now on a regular basis. “Kaleidoscope” was finished in February 2023, about 7 months since I started my quest.

Around this time, after feeling much more confident with my practice, I filmed “The Abstracting Workshop” to capture this process and teach it to students worldwide. Based on my experience working with the new plan, I felt that it was important to be able to break out the steps of this process and isolate them in practice exercises to try to help make the learning process a little quicker for my students. But my path didn’t stop there…

“Wave”, 36x48 inches on stretched canvas. Completed in June 2023.

At the time I completed the painting above, “Wave”, I had been diligently working with same workshop principles for about a solid year. If you take a look at “Kaleidoscope” and compare it to “Wave”, you can see the shapes in the later painting are more fluid and organic by far. At this point, I felt totally confident and comfortable with my process.

Browsing abstract painting on social media can make it seem like the artist paints magic every time they come into the studio. In fact, in a lot of cases, it’s the exact opposite. Not recorded in my book are the mini paintings I did when I wasn’t feeling well, many card club failed lessons and broken dreams (lol).

Every painting that I make now is my favorite painting. I feel like I have really found the process that makes me excited to go into the studio. Gone is the hesitation and the dread that things can go wrong when I paint. I really love the work that I have been producing.

I would not be at this point in my career without consistency and dedication. When I set goals, I make sure they are attainable and I never put pressure on myself to finish in a certain time frame. Repetition builds muscle memory. Moreover, practicing the same techniques fosters a deeper understanding of how to manipulate paint, blend colors, and create desired effects. By focusing on one technique at a time, you give yourself the opportunity to fully immerse in the learning process, honing your craft and ultimately elevating your artistic expression to new heights.

I have always known this to be the case, but without the evidence written in my book, with dates and photos, I would have never been able to be so sure of myself. Now I have the proof.

Principles demonstrated in “The Abstracting Workshop” have been used on all of my art since Feb 2022. Please know that when you take that online workshop with me, I am here for you, and I hope that if it is your desire, you follow the same path, with many subsequent paintings, so that you can add the techniques into your own artistic voice. Students are welcome to contact me and ask for help on every painting they make that is inspired by the workshop information. Yes. It’s true. I can help you get there faster than the route I took, if you practice.

Online Workshops Work. Here's the proof.