Buildings near Old Winston-Salem

16x20 Abstract Buildings

I came upon this view when exiting the ticket and information building for Old Winston-Salem while in North Carolina this past fall. I don't think this scene has anything to do with the historic town, but it was the first thing I saw. I thought it would make a great abstract painting without even trying. Just paint it as it is, and it would look the part. I took this into work last week before it was completed, and a friend of mine said it looked like the Midwest where she had grown up. That you don't see things like this in Colorado (too true, as it was foreign to me!). This was good background for me, though, and I appreciate that knowledge.

I wanted to make the large graphic shapes interesting and yet read as one shape. For instance, the "pink" building could have been painted a flat solid pink shape, but I put purple and ochre and orange in it but kept the overall "pinkness." Same with the other shapes (or sheds). The brown shed has ocher and blue, purple and rust color. There is ochre in the turquoise building which is really viridian green mixed with white, and purple and white.

Posting paintings and writing about them also helps me to "see" them in a new light. I do think, at least in this photo, that the purple is too strong in the pink building. I think I can warm that area up a bit without losing  what I wanted.