Calming Wildflowers, Neutral Abstract
By Amber Gittins, 2010
Amber Gittins gives us a garden with the volume turned down in this 2010 painting called "Calming Wildflowers." Rather than paint every petal and leaf, she lets flowers dissolve into swirls of cream, sage green, and warm rust. Blossoms seem to appear and then drift away again, and the whole thing feels less like a real meadow and more like the way flowers linger in your memory after a walk on a foggy morning.
The heart of the piece is the way she moves her brush. Thick, sweeping strokes travel across the canvas with real energy, but the soft, muted colors keep everything hushed and gentle. This blend of loose abstraction and quiet tones fits right into a popular strand of modern decorative painting, where the aim is calm rather than drama. Return to it more than once and your eye keeps finding fresh curves and half hidden petals tucked into the swirls.