“Your ability to see is your tools of trade; nothing else matters. Beautiful seeing is the desideratum. Remember, when you hear people say they can see a thing but not do it that they cannot really see it. If they did, they could do it even if they put the paint on with their fingers.” Charles Hawthorne

I’ve posted this quote before. It’s one that stays with me. I often find myself thinking “if I could really see this, I could put the paint on with my fingers”. But what if the thing you want to paint is the abstract impression of a favourite song? What if the thing you are “seeing” is a feeling, an impression, something in your mind’s eye?

I had one of my favourite songs playing in my head when I painted these little abstracts. I imagined being in the mountains just before dawn as the birds were beginning to wake up. You may see something completely different. Make of them what you will. I see the colours of early morning and mountains in the clouds. And I hear music… Birds by Lisa Crawley.