Description
Non-Representational Abstract Painting ~ If You Dance I’ll Dance
If You Dance I’ll Dance is a 20×24″ non-representational abstract painting on canvas panel created during my Artist in Residency program at The Art Center in Dover, New Hampshire.
This painting belongs within the residency body of work Attending To Light, where I explored light as something larger than what we see reflected on surfaces. I was searching for the source of light ~ the kind that carries wonder, wisdom, and presence.
My intuitive process for this painting began to feel like a dance. Instead of forcing direction, I discovered a rhythm where it became easy to follow the leader ~ almost as if moving with a master choreographer. Each mark responded to what had already appeared. The painting unfolded through my process of responding to hue with mark and form.
Because of this approach, hue led the dance. I worked within a restrained palette drawn from regal tones and the natural world. Deep blues and greens create a spacious atmosphere while forms of soft lavender, rose, and luminous gather and drift across the surface.
Non-Representational Abstract Painting Exploring Light
In this non-representational abstract painting, floating circular forms create a quiet rhythm across a dark atmospheric ground. Some shapes rise gently through the surface while others settle into deeper passages of color.
This movement creates a feeling of emergence.
The darker passages provide depth and safety while the lighter forms appear to glow as they move upward through the composition. Together they form a structure that feels both grounded and expansive.
Because these shapes repeat in slightly different sizes and tones, the eye moves naturally through the painting. You begin to sense the rhythm that guided the work.
Non-Representational Abstract Painting Reflecting Light
A light touch of pearl paint was added near the central focal area. This subtle reflective surface responds differently throughout the day.
In brighter light the painting feels atmospheric and spacious. In softer light the pearl catches illumination to remain present.
This small shift allows the painting to change as the room changes. The visual experience extends like the final notes of music lingering after the dance has ended.
As a result, the painting becomes less about a single moment and more about an ongoing relationship ~ with art and with light.
Exhibition
The Art Center in the Artist in Residency Exhibition from March 9 – April 30, 2026
Painting Details
Title: If You Dance I’ll Dance
Series: Residency, Attending To Light
Medium: Acrylic mixed media
Substrate: Canvas panel
Size: 20 × 24 inches
