Sometimes weird stuff shows up uninvited in an abstract landscape painting. The faces are especially tough to look at so I take them out. I console myself that if you stare at an oriental rug long enough, you will see stuff, its just the way our brains are wired. Evolution has done a great job watering down our primitive instincts, maybe not. In western astrology, the universe is formed by the four elements earth, air, fire and water. These classical elements were used to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in ancient times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_element
When people were under four feet tall and you only lived to be 30, before all the trees were chopped down, can you imagine the pristine, raw beauty and the strong connection to nature in a hunter – gatherer, even pre-industrial, agrarian world? So much more time to self-actualize today while we trash the earth, the water, the air. It’s so bizarre.
So I’m compelled to paint it, nature as I comprehend it, like a cave man, while I can. Unlike the figure work, there are no reference models for my abstracts. I try not to think too much. Most are done very fast using rollers, spray, knives, anything I can get my hands on and dirty. And always layer upon layer to build up movement and transparent mass. The process induces a trance akin to dancing around a fire and I’m usually exhausted after a couple hours hooping and hollering. Some abstracts have a half dozen unsuccessful messes underneath until the work I’m satisfied with finally emerges. Sometimes a miracle occurs, usually the mess gets worse, it doesn’t matter.
Later, I may go back in and add a reference point that is somewhat recognizable, a sailboat, a farm house, animals, tree’s. People like that. I think it helps ground the imagery going on inside the brain. Make it easy for them, that’s my motto. I find it fascinating that you can purchase a Pupil eye tracker for around $2000 and conduct a study to compare the behavior of an adult viewing a painting with that of a child. https://dschreij.github.io/research/van-gogh-eyetracking-project
Adults, of course, are already messed up. Their pupils dart around faster. When I check my Instagram feed of other artists work, I average maybe 1-2 seconds each pic scrolling, I may stop and look harder at something more interesting for 5 seconds, maybe even check the artists full account for 20 seconds. People looking at my account spend two hours a week watching porn. Maybe I should add oversize apparatus to my paintings, just like a caveman. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-about-sex/202010/how-much-time-does-the-world-spend-watching-porn