Abstract Impressionist Art

Artist Comments
More and more I love to experiment with abstraction. It's amazing how realism with some abstraction somehow looks more true than when rendered using just real...

Artist Comments
Artist Brian McCarty lived in rural New Jersey and has visited many areas of the state. "This particular painting is from the Cape May area," says Brian. From...

Artist Comments
"It's all about the subject and the light," says artist Faye Vander Veer, when asked about her inspiration for this painting. "I saw this young girl talking on the phone while I was doing some sketching at a local coffeeshop. The light was the first thing that caught my eye, then I did a few sketches to design the composition. I kept wondering about her. I never saw her face, but it is so interesting to me how our lives can change in an instant all because of one phone call...

Artist Comments
Artist Mandy Main shows a peaceful inlet surrounded by lush vegetation. Deep shadows contrast with the bright sunlight, leading the eye into the composition a...

Artist Comments
Artist Catherine McCargar explores the tranquility of still waters and deep shadows in this peaceful coastal landscape. The sun's rays shine on the greenery w...

Artist Comments
Artist Crystal DiPietro shares a spectacular mountain desert view from a camping and hiking trip to the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. Rendered en plein air, Crystal captured the sierra's golden summit as the sun sets, its rays melting into the west. "The late afternoon light lit up the dramatic peaks with a warm glow."

About the Artist
Many artists work with the landscape, but Crystal DiPietro sees her works as different from most in the genre. "I tend not to see landscapes as soft and pretty, but as rugged, dramatic and colorful." Many of her works depict wild storms and moody sunsets. She spends a lot of time in remote spots and uses layers of color to create her compositions. Her work hovers between a brief impression of a scene and a pure dream. Crystal's landscapes of southern Utah seem to undulate and continuously change. What's interesting, though, is that these mountains and valleys seem to do the same thing in person. In these areas, the view changes constantly throughout the day as the light shifts, throwing shadows of faces, mazes and alien patterns across the cliff faces. Crystal impressively captures what's there, and what seems to be but isn't.

Words that describe this painting: mountains, desert, peaks, sunset, landscape, southwest, west, western, plein air, Mojave, Joshua Tree, shadow, impressionism, oilpaint, impressionism, landscape, western, oil painting, blue

Sunset Glow...

Artist Comments
It's my continuing love affair with the forest. Using contrast, I portray the rose of morning rising from the shadows.

About the Artist
Russian-born Tatiana Iliina lives in Montreal and has sold paintings to collectors all over the world. She works with both abstract and representational compositions, with many pieces falling somewhere in between. Some of Tatiana’s paintings could be interpreted as a landscape or a cityscape, or a non-representational articulation of color, giving the viewer the opportunity to make independent decisions about the work. Her long brushstrokes and painterly style are created using a palette knife, resulting in richly textured canvases. Working in a range of colors from muted grays to bold blues, vibrant purples, and glowing oranges, Tatiana’s portfolio reflects an array of moods while maintaining a focus on her iconic style.

Dawn to...

Artist Comments
Painted from a photographic reference, artist Joanie Ford rendered this painting with contrasting soft tones. "I wanted to represen...

Artist Comments
Colorful autumn grasses light up this mountain hillside. Part of Nancy's signature series of nature scenes. She spends a lot of tim...

Artist Comments
Beautiful spring blossom in a rural area. Lilac and apple trees are highlighted under the light of the spring sun. I used thick ...

Artist Comments
This piece is part of my spring bouquet series. It is my interpretation of spring flowers, done in a loose, watercolor style. This piece is on heavyweight pap...

Artist Comments
"Vietnam is a country of contrasts - lowlands with lush green ricefields like this one as well as mountains around every corner," says artist James Nyika. "This picture was so compelling because of the huge color contrast of the bright luscious foreground and the greying distant mountains. I wanted to capture these contrasts that are pervasive throughout the country."

About the Artist
Artist James Nyika paints the glowing atmosphere of cities across the world. As a child growing up in Kenya, he found art materials at the student bookshop and also borrowed just about every art history volume from the British Council library in Nairobi. "I checked out the same books over and over just to stare at the art, to try and understand how it was created," says James. With family encouragement to study engineering, James moved to the U.S. and immersed himself in science studies at Boston University. Several years after embarking on a tech career, he set a goal to create at least one painting a week, never throwing away any works and learning as much as possible in his off hours. Today, James still balances his full-time career designing large software systems with his prolific output as a painter. "Painting is a great antidote to the regularity of a computing profession and I really value it for the uncertainty that it brings - something frowned upon when writing code."

Words that describe this painting: Vietnam, paddy, rice field...

Artist Comments
A tranquil scene from a stretch on the American River in Sacramento, California. Artist Patricia Prendergast painted this piece by enlarging a smaller plein a...

Artist Comments
"Even in the middle of winter when the colors are muted, beauty abounds and promises spring," shares artist Melissa Gannon. Insp...

Artist Comments
Waves roll in while the sun sits high in the sky. Inspired by a short winter visit to Florida, artist Judy Mackey creates a serene ...

Artist Comments
Artist Nicole Lamothe paints a charming pink peony framed by a neutral patterned background. Her distinct brushwork creates a delicate softness about the piec...

Artist Comments
Light seeps between voluminous flowing clouds. A cool wind blows ruffling leaves from tall trees while birds fly away to the distance. "I find that getting aw...

Artist Comments
"On December 21st, 2020 I witnessed the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn," shares artist Elizabeth Garat. "Astronomers said these planets hadn't appear...

Artist Comments
Artist Sherri Aldawood posed her model, Alana, in her backyard garden on a warm summer day. She positioned in her the shade of dense green plants and glowing ...

Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero shares a glimpse into the world he inhabits with a view from his daily walks. "I have always been attracted to the surface of the water ...

Artist Comments
"The inspiration for this painting came from a visit to the Rodin Museum in Paris," says artist Faye Vander Veer. "As a painter, I always get excited when I s...

Artist Comments
"The vase in this painting is the main character," says artist Oksana Johnson. "This handmade Italian ceramic piece is a work of art in and of itself. I selected other elements for this composition to support and complement its timeless charm." Oksana applied distinct brushwork on the blue and white vessel and created a striking balance of color with the soft peach roses.

About the Artist
Oksana’s paintings embody the tradition of Impressionism in the truest sense of the style. While Impressionism in its 19th Century roots was intended to change both the method and perception of painting modern life, Impressionist work in a contemporary context is arguably entirely about aesthetics. Oksana’s paintings beautifully capture serene city and garden scenes with soft painterly strokes and a delicate depiction of light. She often works en plein air, particularly when she travels in Europe, following in the footsteps of the Impressionist masters. When she’s not travelling or painting outdoors, Oksana can be found admiring her tranquil view of the Pacific Ocean from her San Francisco home and studio.

Words that describe this painting: flowers, bouquet, still life, roses, table, floral, vase, impressionism, still life, representational, oil painting, purple

Yellow Roses and Italian...

Artist Comments
Claudia Verciani painted this impressionist scene after seeing fishing boats in Brazil.

About the Artist
Inspired by the great Impressionist painters, Claudia uses paint emotionally to depict the beauty of life. She is most inspired by light, and as such, tends to paint en plein air frequently. Claudia strives to capture singular, transient moments in time in which the contrast between light and dark values are striking. She presents a body of work that conveys traditionally Impressionist influences across varying choices of subject matter.

Words that describe this painting: impressionism, boats, seascape, harbor, impressionism, seascape, representational, oil painting, blue

Three Amigos...

Artist Comments
"During an early fall morning on one of my daily strolls, I was coming round a bend and saw this sight - bright morning sunlight ...

Artist Comments
Patricia set up her easel at one of her favorite spots along the American River and painted a small study of the early morning scene. Then she went back to he...

Artist Comments
Soft light falls tenderly upon a pink waterlily in full bloom at Mission San Juan Capistrano in Southern California. "In this painting, I wanted the water lil...

Artist Comments
"I used a palette knife to paint a feeling," says artist Judy Mackey. In this upbeat still life, Judy rendered a bouquet of bright red carnations, adding abstract dashes of yellow and red to build the emotion of the scene she experienced in her studio. She worked all prima, layering wet on wet paint until she achieved the desired sculptural surface.

About the Artist
Originally from Japan, Judy Mackey embarked upon her professional artistic career over a decade ago after connecting with a local artist. He taught her how to skillfully wield a palette knife instead of a paintbrush, which gave rise to her own stylistic development. Judy uses this technique to create heavy texture. Her medium of choice is oil paint, with which she enjoys mixing and creating new colors with limited pigments. Her work glows with sweet simplicity in a painterly, impressionistic style.

Words that describe this painting: flowers, floral, vase, still life, impressionism, palette knife, alla prima, texture, carnations, impressionism, flora, representational, oil painting, blue

Grocery Store...

Artist Comments
A panoramic autumn view of rolling hills and a sailboat on the bay in Northern California. The blue water provides a refreshing sight within the grassy straw-...

Artist Comments
A fervent hiker and camper, artist Crystal DiPietro invites the viewer on an adventure of the majestic wilderness of the southwest. "This piece is about stand...

Artist Comments
This is a distant view of the hoodoos in Valley of the Gods in Utah. The glowing sunset light and long shadows as I prepared to ca...

Artist Comments
When artist Patricia Prendergast paints at the river, she often quickly picks up her camera and snaps photographs of other details ...

Artist Comments
A quiet Northern California morning on a rural road. The marine layer has nearly burned off, intensifying the colors in the landscape and deepening the shado...

Artist Comments
The Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington State provided the inspiration for this semi-abstract landscape painting. A rug...

Artist Comments
Naoko describes this vibrant scene as a walled garden where all kinds of herbs and medieval plants are in full bloom. The sun shines brightly, illuminating th...

Artist Comments
Typical small old church in the Texas Hill Country. Easter time brings blankets of wildflowers throughout the Hill Country, and none more noteworthy than the bluebonnets. There is also some Indian paintbrush...

Artist Comments
On a solo hike, I passed through some beautiful aspen groves. It was early morning and the sunlight was filtering in behind. I noticed a lone, small pine grow...