Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

As an abstract painter, titles can be the hardest things to come up with!

Sometimes the painting does reveal its name right away though... and I wanted to share with you the thought process behind this one.

When I started this painting, all I had in mind was adding another piece to my Hot Reds collection. Different shades of grey in the background, large gestures of red, complementary accents of turquoise, gold highlights. 

Then as the shapes started to unfold, it seemed like something branching, or perhaps a piece of fabric tearing apart.

Which led to my next thought, of some recent deaths we've had in our family.  Red, the color of sorrow. (Isn't it funny how 'love' and 'sorrow' are both represented by the same color?)

Also, my husband and I, both Queen fans, had been to see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody the night before, and the way-too-early snatching away of creative geniuses like Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson, Prince, also came to mind. Can there be any pain as bad as loss? Whether it's someone close to you, or someone you don't know but who brought joy to your life.

All of this flashed through my mind in a few seconds as I was painting... the tearing asunder of lives. So this is how we now we have "Parting Sorrow".

She is 18" x 24", acrylics on 1.5" gallery wrap canvas. There are lots of interesting, organic patterns throughout the painting... some that arose spontaneously, others added by me. Closeups are below.

Prints of Parting Sorrow are available here.  If you're interested in the original, please contact me.

In this short video you can see me putting the gold highlights on the painting!