Though I understand that the whole right brain-left brain thing is “out,” I find it a useful concept for reflection.
Most of my personality, as I experience it, is right brain: intuitive, emotional, creative. As you might guess, my years in school were pretty miserable.
To my total surprise, finding my way to abstract art in 2012 at 62 revealed to me a whole depth of spontaneity and life I didn't even know was in me.
In many ways painting has been a “welcome home" experience, which is to say I feel like being an artist is who I am, who I was meant to be all along. So what if it took me until 62 to discover it!
Oddly enough, the more I paint, the more I begin to see that my right brain adventures actually end up leading me to left brain analysis!
For example, one of my first reflections about painting was about the meaning of abstract art. My conclusion, drawn from my first months of painting, was that abstract art, like life, has no meaning at all unless we give it meaning. This was a crucial insight for me, as was trying to figure out why I mostly use primary colors.
What I currently tell myself is that I use primary colors, especially black, red, and white, because something in me is attracted to bold, powerful expression.
Since I don’t see or want boldness and power in my life, what I think I am really doing when I paint is speaking to my desire to be spiritually bold and strong, not in my strength but in God. This is a reflection I am still mulling over today - all because of abstract art!
Whenever I paint, which I see as an entirely right brain experience, I always end up reflecting on what I have done and then bump into entirely left brain analyses I never would have reached - without painting! O the wonder!