I Painted Over Something Else to Make This One
In my last post, I shared how a new mop brush unexpectedly opened a door for me—a way of painting abstractly that actually feels like me.
I was so excited by that first experiment that I wanted to try another one almost immediately. And this time, I wanted to go bigger.
Rather than buy a new canvas, I realized my older birch tree painting, Golden Hour (2023), was exactly the size I needed. It hadn’t sold, so I decided to give the canvas a second life.
Yes, sometimes artists paint over their paintings.
I love knowing Golden Hour is still there beneath the new layers—a piece of my creative history reborn into something new.
The result is Where Dreams Bloom, a 40" × 30" abstract botanical that helped me understand a little more about what I want my abstract work to be.
Where Dreams Bloom, a 40" × 30" dreamy abstract botanical
Here's the funny thing: I'm not typically drawn to purely abstract art. If I were choosing an abstract painting for my home, I'd buy one of Rose Bryant’s abstract landscapes . As much as I love beautiful color, interesting shapes and visual texture, I seem to need just a little something real to grab onto. A suggestion of a place. A flower. A horizon. A hint of a story.
And I think that's what I'm beginning to find in my own abstract work.
With Where Dreams Bloom, I continued experimenting with the mop brush to create soft, atmospheric areas and expanses of open space. Within that openness, I built little pockets of visual texture, color and botanical forms—flowers that emerge and recede, and marks that suggest something without explaining everything.
There's enough of a story to invite you in, but still plenty of room for your imagination to wander.
I love the dreamy quality of this painting, its softness and femininity, and the feeling that something beautiful is quietly emerging. Most of all, I love that it's exactly the kind of abstract painting I would want hanging in my own home.
Where Dreams Bloom is now available to collect.