That gut feeling...

Bryce Canyon Arch
16-3/4" X 11"

That gut feeling: Is it confirmation of a right decision? Or is it a precursor to an unsettling, unpleasant and absolutely unattractive episode?

Having just returned from the Post Office where I sent off my entry for the 2011 Watercolor Society of Indiana Juried Exhibit, I am hoping for the former.

I had a hard time deciding which painting to enter in this year's WSI juried show: Should I stick with one of my florals since I had success with that subject matter last year? Or should I go with a painting I love but is not traditional or like anything else I have ever shown publicly?

In the end I went with "Bryce Canyon Arch." It's more abstract than previous work so I am not sure how the juror (and others) will receive it. However, the painting accurately represents my 2011 artistic journey. Since January I have been delving into less realistic images, first experimenting with optical mixing of colors in a portrait of my daughter. 

My next step away from realism was following a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago's John Marin exhibit in April. I had long admired his brushwork, but the exhibition of his work demonstrated his exploration of the balance of realism and abstraction. That balance is what I'm looking for, I realized. I want just enough realism that people can relate to the image; I want the rest to be my stamp on it.

Then I started reading about other 20th century abstract artists and became fascinated with Paul Klee. His reduction of an image to blocks of color is the technique that inspired my approach to "Bryce Canyon Arch."

So that is what led me to go with my gut feeling to enter "Bryce Canyon Arch" into this year's WSI Juried Exhibit.

When I returned from the Post Office, I turned to this month's O Magazine, which features instincts and intuition as its theme. In her column, Oprah writes, "I'm a big believer in the wisdom of gut feelings -- those moments when you just know something to be true, even if you don't know how you know."

O, let it be a sign!