Why Abstract Art?

The decision to pursue a more simplified life is what propelled Yvette Neumann to step away from a thriving business career and take up painting seriously in 2007. Relocating to Bellingham, Washington - a thriving artist community with small-town values, presented an ideal opportunity for her to fully embrace artistic pursuits wholly longed for. With three of her five children raised and on their own, conditions to begin anew were at their optimum; all that was needed was the committment to "jump in". 

Artful pursuits have long been woven into family life, with experimentation and curiosity strongly championed by Yvette. Although not entirely a self-taught artist, Yvette has spent countless hours studying a diversity of art and craft media, some of which include painting, glass, woodwork, weaving, sculpture, pottery, and indigenous arts. Yvette's interests in gardening, handcrafts, music, and other creative endeavors echo the spirit of invention and imagination she believes are principals of self-awareness and actualization. Reflecting on her engineering background and years of technical design expertise, Yvette always felt hampered by the low value placed on the aesthetics of functionally designed things. What attracts her to abstract art and painting specifically is the ability to reveal in her work, the fusion of practical leanings with expressions of aesthetic beauty.

Yvette's work is generally non-representational, allowing individual responses and interpretation. She draws inspiration from daily life, objects, moods, or physical features - not so much because of what they are, but because of the questions they inspire. "Painting offers new challenges everytime I embark on a new work. Each foray has its own set of problems to solve, processes to perfect, ideas to explore; I paint wth the hope that my next painting will be my best painting so far".

Abstracted representations appeal to her most because they allow translation of thoughts and flashes of insight to be made physically real without the burden of qualification. Most of what she paints emerges from three basic inspirations: "Story" paintings, which describe inner conversations about personal experiences, values, beliefs, ideals. Landscape paintings that articulate the sensuality of untrained beauty. And geometric compositions that accentuate color, texture, line, and shape. Yvette works primarily in oil, acrylic, and ink, but also enjoys experimenting with non-traditional materials and aspects of mixed media work.

Yvette's paintings have been featured in numerous regional art shows, festivals, special events, and on location at a variety of business establishments throughout Whatcom and King Counties. She is the owner/operator of Particulars Studio in Bellingham, a venue featured during the prestigious Whatcom Artists Studio Tour, occuring each Fall.