Ever-fascinated by naturally-occurring cracks, shadows, and repeating patterns in nature, Don Wunderlee’s vividly-painted abstracts are—at their core—a gorgeous re-imagining of the world around us.
At first glance, Don’s paintings feel random and organic, but that’s not entirely true. All of his pieces capitalize on repeating lines and colors, with slight variations in hue and value to draw the eye and create interest throughout each composition.
In fact, looking at Between Thoughts II, below, you can see how his use of cooler colors (blues and greens) visually push and pull at the warmer, reddish columns, until they almost seem to move and dance within the space. Those diagonal slashes of texture placed randomly throughout the painting add to the effect as well.
What’s most fascinating is that somehow, even with all that movement, there’s still a rhythmic balance waiting to be explored.
Perhaps it’s that intrinsic sense of balance that makes Don’s portfolio of paintings so cohesive. . . each painting is abstract, yes, but they all begin and end like the melody of a song, or the percussive rhythm of a dance. They all align.
In his painting above, Don used mostly one color (blue) to set the stage, and then subtly interwove just a few others to create space and depth.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – abstracts NEED depth. And Don is a master at creating it. Without depth, an abstract painting is just a splotch of colors; with depth, it can be anything you can imagine.
Let’s end on this one, shall we?
Wellfleet Sun is such a soothing blend of harmonious warm colors, I just want to sit here and soak it up. It’s like a warm breeze in summer, with leaves waving and rustling high overhead, and the sound of birds in the distance.
Beautiful, isn’t it?
If you’ve enjoyed these few paintings, I hope you’ll take a minute to head on over and see more of Don’s work at his website. I promise you won’t regret it.
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