Disclaimer: I am in no way suggesting that these images approach the magic of Rothko. But I did wonder why the process of creating them fascinated me. And I realized that a series of large, soothing, minimalist canvases in a doctor’s office pushed me to experiment.  

Born in 1903 in Latvia, Mark Rothko immigrated to the United States in 1913. An abstract expressionist painter, he was known for his large-scale, color-field paintings.

 So what is color-field painting?  

Rothko created large, rectangular canvases filled with luminous, harmonious color fields that seemed to engulf the viewer. His paintings were characterized by soft-edged, rectangular blocks of color, often arranged in stacked or overlapping configurations.  

He saw color as a universal language that could transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries.

Rothko believed that color had the power to speak directly to the viewer’s soul, bypassing the need for representational content.   [Source: medium.com]  

His colored rectangles seem to dematerialize into pure light. [Source: MoMAs’ former chief curator of painting and sculpture, William S. Rubin]

Yes! Color is such a powerful force.

I began with a series of images in a similar color palette to Rothko’s orange, tan, and ochre works, not intentionally. But then I wondered how the feeling would change if I did a dramatic shift to a more soothing color palette of greens, blues, and yellows.

And now, after doing my little dive into Rothko, I realize that part of what I love are the soft-edged blocks of color and the overlapping configurations. There is strength, but not harshness.

Please share what you are thinking.