The Journal
Journal — Abstract Art & Painting Insights
Essays on abstract painting, technique and the artist's practice — new articles regularly.
Fontana and Spatialism: The History of the Slashed Canvas
In 1958, Lucio Fontana cut into a stretched canvas with a blade for the first time. A look at Spatialism, the theory that set out to bring real space into painting — and at what separates that gesture from my own palette-knife practice.
Pierre Soulages and Outrenoir: When Black Becomes Light
One night in 1979, in his studio in Sète, Pierre Soulages fell asleep in front of canvases he thought had failed — entirely black, with nowhere left to go. When he woke, morning light slid across the textured paint and drew out reflections he hadn't expected: Outrenoir had just been born. A look at a pictorial language born a short drive from the region where I've been exhibiting since 2021.
Contemporary Art in Barcelona: Miró, Gaudí and Geometric Abstraction
Gaudí's towers draw the crowds, but Barcelona also raised Joan Miró and hosted the formative years of Joaquín Torres-García — the same lineage that gave rise to the Latin American geometric abstraction I trained in. Another way of looking at the city.
Masking Tape in Abstract Painting: The Technique for Clean Geometric Lines
"How do you get lines that straight, without a single bleed?" Borrowed from the American hard-edge painters, masking tape remains the most reliable tool for perfectly crisp geometric colour fields. An artist who works her own lines freehand breaks down the technique, the materials and the mistakes to avoid.
Kandinsky, the Pioneer of Abstract Painting: From the Blue Rider to the Bauhaus
In 1910, in his Munich studio, a former Russian law professor paints a watercolour in which nothing is recognisable any more — no face, no landscape, no object. Where does abstract painting actually come from? I trace Wassily Kandinsky's path, from the Blue Rider to his years teaching at the Bauhaus, and what my own Latin American geometry owes him, if only indirectly.
Acrylic Pouring: Technique, Materials and Steps for Painting with Fluid Art
Paint that finds its own way across the canvas, with no brush or knife involved: acrylic pouring has become one of the most shared abstract techniques online. What it is, what materials it takes and how it's done, seen from the studio of a geometric painter who would rather tame chance than surrender to it.
Malevich and Suprematism: the Story of the Black Square
In 1915, in Petrograd, an almost entirely black canvas was hung in the spot reserved for religious icons. That gesture founded Kazimir Malevich's Suprematism — one of the most radical currents in the history of abstraction, one that every geometric abstraction since owes something to, in its own way.
Mondrian and Neoplasticism: The History of the De Stijl Movement and Its Grid
Three colours, two non-colours, only straight lines: few artists have ever pared their vocabulary down this far to say this much. Here's the history of Piet Mondrian's Neoplasticism, the De Stijl journal that carried it, and what a geometry this strict owes — or doesn't — to my own.
The Bauhaus and Geometric Abstraction: How a School Changed Painting
A school shut down in 1933 still dictates the visual vocabulary of geometric abstraction: clean grids, primary colours, form stripped to essentials. Here's the Bauhaus's history, its masters — Kandinsky, Klee, Itten, Albers — and what my own Latin American geometry owes it, or doesn't.
Contemporary Art in Toulouse: Museums, Galleries and Associations
Les Abattoirs, the Frac Occitanie Toulouse, a committed associative network: the Pink City holds a richer contemporary art scene than it lets on. After exhibiting there at the Les 111 des Arts competition, I map out the places that keep it alive.
Can You Mix Ink and Acrylic in Abstract Painting? Technique and Precautions
"Is that paint or drawing?" A question that comes up in front of Upside Down or Viracocha, the only two canvases where I combine acrylic with ink or marker. Here's how line and colour meet in my work — and what's worth knowing before you try it.
Abstract Painting for Beginners: The Essential Supplies to Get Started
"I don't dare start, I don't have the supplies." I hear this often at my exhibitions. After returning to painting in 2020 with the basics rather than a full studio, here is what you actually need to start painting abstract art.
What Is Abstract Expressionism? History, Pollock, Rothko and Its Spanish Echo
Pollock letting paint drip onto the floor, Rothko stacking vast, silent fields of colour: Abstract Expressionism changed the very image of the painter's studio. Born in New York after the war, it also has a lesser-known echo on this side of the Atlantic, reaching as far as Madrid, where a group of Spanish painters proposed their own version as early as 1957. A geometric painter of Latin American training traces this founding movement — and explains why her own work keeps a deliberate distance from it.
Is Cubism Abstract Art? The Roots of Geometric Abstraction
Picasso, Braque and a question that keeps coming up: was Cubism already abstract? A look at the movement that cracked the door open for 20th-century geometric abstraction.
Contemporary Art in Madrid: Museums, Galleries and ARCOmadrid
Reina Sofía, Thyssen-Bornemisza, Matadero Madrid, ARCOmadrid: Spain's capital holds one of the densest contemporary art scenes in southern Europe. After exhibiting there at 'Couleurs et Formes', I map out the places that keep it alive.
Choosing Abstract Art for a Professional Space: Offices, Waiting Rooms, Restaurants, Hotels
Abstract art isn't just for the living room. A growing number of offices, clinics, restaurants and hotels are choosing an original painting over a generic framed print to set a mood and build a visual identity of their own. Here's what actually changes when buying for a business rather than a home.
Canvas, Wood or Paper: Choosing a Support for Abstract Acrylic Painting
Colour, composition and knife technique get all the attention — the support almost never does. Linen canvas, cotton canvas, primed wood panel or heavy paper: each surface takes acrylic differently. Here's what sets them apart, and why canvas has always been my choice.
Contemporary Art in Andorra: A Quiet Cultural Scene Between France and Spain
Wedged between two major artistic traditions, Andorra is quietly building its own cultural scene. Since exhibiting at the Museu de la Moto in Canillo, I've been looking more closely at this Pyrenean country — still too often reduced to skiing and duty-free shopping.
The Wellbeing Benefits of Abstract Painting: Colour, Form and Calm at Home
Hang an abstract painting in a living room and the whole space feels different. Colour, the absence of a subject to decode, texture: here's how abstract art shapes wellbeing at home, from an artist who has painted and exhibited since 2021.
Composition in Abstract Painting: Balance, Rhythm, Focal Point and Negative Space
Standing in front of an abstract painting, the eye often looks for a subject before it looks for anything to hold onto. Yet it's composition — how shapes, masses and empty space are arranged on the canvas — that decides whether a work holds together, long before colour enters the picture. From Kandinsky to Latin American Concrete art, the artist breaks down what makes an abstract composition work: balance of mass, rhythm, focal point and negative space.
Should You Varnish an Abstract Acrylic Painting?
Should you varnish an abstract acrylic painting, and with what type of varnish? Between protecting colour, an aesthetic choice, and precautions specific to palette-knife relief, the artist shares her studio method.
How Much Does an Original Abstract Painting Cost?
"How much is this one?" It's one of the first three questions I get asked at almost every exhibition, right after the title and the technique. Size, technique, hours of work, buying direct instead of through a gallery: here's an honest look at how I actually price an original abstract painting.
Colour Psychology in Abstract Painting: Choosing the Right Mood for Each Room
Before you even try to read an abstract composition, its colour speaks first and sets a mood. From Goethe to Kandinsky, by way of my own canvases, a look at colour psychology to help choose an abstract painting for the room and effect you want.
Preparing an Exhibition Hang: How I Choose, Arrange and Light My Paintings
Before an opening, you have to decide which paintings travel, in what order they speak to each other, and how to make them work in a space you never fully control. Between grain halls, a château and a motorcycle museum, the artist explains how she actually prepares an exhibition hang — choosing the works, arranging the space and working with the light — drawing on her nine exhibitions across France, Spain and Andorra.
Geometric Abstraction vs Minimalism: What's the Real Difference?
Clean lines, simple shapes, an embrace of geometry: geometric abstraction and minimalism share a visual vocabulary close enough to be routinely mixed up. Yet one builds with colour and material, the other strips everything back to the bare object. A geometric painter trained in Latin America explains what actually separates these two aesthetics — and why her own work sits firmly on the side of colour.
What Happens at an Art Exhibition Opening (Vernissage): A First-Timer's Guide
Smart-casual or black tie? Are you expected to buy something on the night? A painter who has exhibited across France, Spain and Andorra since 2021 demystifies the opening night — the social, informal evening that comes before the quieter days of an exhibition.
How to Commission a Custom Abstract Painting: Steps, Timeline and Budget
"Do you take commissions?" First contact, a conversation about palette, painting in the studio and delivery: here, from an artist who has sold her work directly since 2021, is how a custom abstract painting commission really works.
The Title of an Abstract Painting: How (and Why) I Name My Work
"Why is it called that?" At exhibitions, the question comes up almost as often as the price. Neutral titles, feeling-titles, or evocative titles in Spanish and Latin: here's how I name my paintings, and what a title actually changes in how an abstract work is read.
Who Is M. C. Lamamie de Clairac? An Artist's Portrait, From Buenos Aires to Occitanie
From a first drawing shown in Buenos Aires in 1982 to a canvas finished in my Tarn studio today: here is the path that shaped my eye as a painter, between Latin America and Occitanie.
How to Care for and Preserve an Abstract Painting: Light, Humidity and Framing
"So how do I actually take care of it?" A painting has just arrived home: here, from the perspective of an artist who has painted, transported and exhibited her own canvases since 2021, is how to keep it looking the same in ten years.
Giving Abstract Art as a Gift: A Guide to Choosing the Right Piece
"Can you actually give someone a painting?" Occasions, budget and personal touches: here, from the perspective of an artist who has sold her canvases directly since 2021, is how to turn an abstract painting into a gift that lands.
Geometric Abstraction vs Lyrical Abstraction: How to Tell the Two Styles Apart
A crisp line or a spontaneous drip, a planned composition or an improvised gesture: geometric abstraction and lyrical abstraction are the two great languages of abstract painting since Kandinsky. Between Mondrian and Hartung, between rule and gesture, a geometric painter trained in Latin America explains what truly separates these two styles — and why her own work sits right at their border.
The Creative Process Behind an Abstract Painting: From Blank Canvas to Finished Work
A blank canvas on the easel, a tube of acrylic just opened, and then hours of layering and palette-knife work before a composition finally feels complete. How does an abstract painting actually come together? Step by step, a geometric painter trained between Buenos Aires and São Paulo walks through her creative process, from the first intention to the always-tricky moment of knowing a canvas is done.
Kinetic Art: Definition, History and How It Differs from Op Art
Sculptures that move, canvases that seem to vibrate as you look at them: kinetic art reshaped geometric abstraction in the 1950s and 60s, driven by Latin American artists who settled in Paris. Definition, history and the difference with Op Art, told by a geometric painter who inherited the same colour tradition.
Acrylic or Oil Paint: Which Medium Suits Abstract Art?
Acrylic or oil? For abstract painting, the choice of medium changes almost everything — drying speed, palette-knife texture, how a canvas ages on a wall. A working painter's honest comparison, from a studio that works in acrylic alone.
Colour Theory in Abstract Painting: How to Build a Palette That Works
"How do you choose your colours?" It's the question that comes up most often, right after the one about price. Contrast, harmony, temperature: here's how I build a palette that holds together, canvas after canvas.
How to Pair an Abstract Painting with Your Home Decor: Size, Colour and Placement
Size, colour, hanging height, light: practical, concrete advice for choosing and hanging an abstract painting at home, from living room to bedroom, from my studio in the Tarn.
How to Choose an Abstract Painting for Your Interior Design
"Will this canvas work with my walls?" Size, colour and light: here, from the perspective of an artist who has sold her canvases directly since 2021, is how to pair an abstract painting with a room without neutralising it.
Abstract or Figurative Painting: How to Tell the Styles Apart (and What Monochrome Means)
A face half-emerges, a shape slips away, a canvas holds only one colour: abstract, figurative, semi-figurative, monochrome — I help you tell these styles apart from my studio, where I paint across all three registers.
Latin American Geometric Abstraction: History, Movements and Colour
Constructive universalism, Madí, concretismo, neo-concretism: where does the geometric abstraction born in Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil actually come from? Trained between Buenos Aires and São Paulo, I trace a history that still runs through my own painting.
The Contemporary Abstract Art Scene Across Occitanie, Madrid and Andorra
Where does contemporary abstract art actually get shown outside major capitals? Between converted grain halls, medieval châteaux and unexpected museums, I map the regional, cross-border circuit I've exhibited in since 2021.
How to Buy and Collect Contemporary Abstract Art
Original or reproduction? Certificate of authenticity? Emerging artist or established name? As a painter who sells her own work directly, I share the questions worth asking before a first purchase.
Inside My Studio: My Daily Routine
How does a canvas come to life, day after day? Between morning light, colour preparation and long hours with the palette knife, I take you inside my daily studio routine.
Palette Knife Painting: Technique, How It Differs from Brushwork, and Care
What is palette knife painting? Between Courbet's legacy and contemporary geometric abstraction, a look at a technique that gives canvas relief, material and light.
Understanding Abstract Painting: Origins, Techniques and a Contemporary Perspective
What is abstract painting? From Kandinsky's legacy to geometric abstraction inspired by Latin American colour, a journey through an art form that frees shape and colour from figurative representation.