Abstracts & Landscapes: My 2024 Paintings and the 17 Stories They Tell

"Painting is another way of keeping a diary." ~ Pablo Picasso

I painted every month in 2024. I painted thirteen nature landscapes and, unexpectedly, four abstract paintings.

I am a self-taught painter. I began painting in 2021. Sometimes I find myself looking at my paintings, and asking myself, "How did I do that?"

But I can share with you the inspiration for my paintings and what is happening in my life at the time that I take out the canvas, paints, brushes, and easel.

I share Picasso's sentiment: painting is another way of keeping a diary, not in words (I also keep a journal), but in paint and emotions. My painting is a joyful pursuit and a reflection of my life. I learn with every painting. I discover what I hadn't expected. I continue to play with paint and to learn with every stroke of the brush. And I've discovered new surfaces to paint on other than a canvas.

I continue to learn from watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts, like the Self-taught Artist and The Savvy Painter, both rich with knowledge, experience, inspiration, encouragement, tips, advice, and so much more.

To date, I have created seventy-two paintings and have participated in four art exhibitions that welcome professional, non-professional, and emerging artists.

Here, I share seventeen of my paintings. Some I like more than others. Some are liked more than others by family, friends, followers, and anyone who comes across my paintings on my social media. And this year I started to ask them, "What do you see?" and "How does it make you feel?"

Sometimes naming a painting is not easy. I couldn't decide what to name one of my paintings below, so I asked my followers. I was happy I did. It is perfect. Read on and find out which one, and let me know in the comments what you see in every painting and/or how each painting makes you feel.

Snow Solitude

Painted January 21

6"x 20" Acrylic on Canvas                              

After almost two winters with little or no snow, snow finally blanketed the roads and the trail near our home. I went snowshoeing. It was just me, barren trees, snow, and solitude.

A View of Jenny Lake Grand Teton National Park   

Painted February 24

18" x 24" Acrylic on Canvas                   My first solo exhibition, Nature: Mountains, Trails, Sand, Water, and National Parks, was coming to an end. I had an 18" x 24" canvas and I painted another national park memory, this from our 2011 national park visit In Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Jon and I hiked 9 miles on the Jenny Lake trail overlooking Jenny Lake.

A View From the Peak of El Yunque Rainforest                                                        

Painted March 11

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas                             

My family, my students that I taught in a study travel course to Puerto Rico, and I have hiked to the peak of El Yunque Rainforest (3,524 ft.) to enjoy a spectacular view of the magnificent Atlantic Ocean. Our hike In 2006 inspired me to paint the memory.

The Caribbean Ocean and Guánica Dry Forest

Painted March 24

16” x 20” Acrylic on Canvas

The rain was pouring, and the wind was howling at home on the day I painted this painting. A photo sparked me painting a memory of hiking with my students in Guánica Dry Forest in Puerto Rico. We swam in the pristine aqua-blue beach.

Driveway Garden                                        Painted May 3 16”x 20” Acrylic on Canvas                              Not only do nature and landscapes found in national parks and forests in other lands inspire me to paint, but so does nature at home. I love springtime and planting perennials in our gardens. This painting was inspired by the flowers and bushes in our driveway garden in early spring.

Springtime in My Backyard                          Painted May 29

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas                           I was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in April 2025. I was happy that it was caught early after I fell while training for an ultramarathon. Five days before my successful partial mastectomy, I set up my easel and painted in our canopy tent by our vegetable garden. For me painting is meditative, calming, joyful, and healing.

Countryside Sunset in Bollington                   Painted June 16

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas                       Two weeks after my partial mastectomy, I took on another painting challenge from artist Caroline Constable from the UK. We met on Instagram and began sending each other photos to paint during Covid. I don't have a knack for painting clouds, but in this painting I'm pretty happy with the evening clouds as the sun is setting.

Blueberry Sky                                                   Painted July 30 11" x 19" Oil on Plywood                                  My first oil painting on plywood was inspired by African-American artist William H. Johnson's oil painting on plywood, "Flowers," at the Metropolitan Art Museum in NYC in April. "Blueberry Sky" was also inspired after Jon and I went blueberry picking. I sanded the piece of plywood, primed it, and started playing with the oil paints that my son Sebastian gave to me as a Mother’s Day gift when I first started painting in 2021. I learned that oil paintings take forever to dry. I'm happy with my first exercise in oil painting on wood,

Great Sand Dunes

Painted September 18

16' x 20" Acrylic on Canvas

After returning home from hiking in three national parks in Colorado, I painted a memory of Great Sand Dunes National park. My clouds looked like blobs, so I painted over them and created my own sky.

Autumn

Painted October 8

10" x 12" Acrylic on Canvas

My backyard served as inspiration for my second abstract on a cold, dreary, rainy autumn morning. The autumn trees and fallen leaves were the most colorful and vibrant I'd seen In a couple of years. With autumn color paints, dry sand, and a beat up no. 4 Royal acrylic brush, I created a textured abstract.

Hiking the Dunes Overlook Trail                  Painted September 30

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas                               Great Sand Dunes National Park is not only made up from massive sand dunes, but also challenging hiking trails and spectacular views. In a chaotic world, you will find respite and peace in the wilderness. I am happy with the clouds and the dirt texture.

Black Canyons                                                  Painted October 15

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas                            Black Canyon on the Gunnison National Park was our 31st national park since we started visiting national parks in 2010. The majestic and spectacular canyons are wonderful to see but difficult for me to paint. I looked through all the pictures we took and created my painting. It was the first time I painted a canyon. I enjoyed the process. It was a good way to relax and to taper four days before the Badger Palooza 12-hr ultramarathon, and to capture another national park memory on canvas.

Autumn Trees Trail                                          Painted October 30

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas                               The beautiful weather and bright trees and autumn leaves inspired me to take a break from writing, and to play with paint. I train for my ultramarathons on this trail, which also serves as a private road for a couple of homes. It's beautiful every season —winter, spring, summer, and fall. Albert Camus said it best — "Autumn is the second spring when every leaf is a flower."

Whatever You Want It To Be                         Painted November 16

16" x 20" Acrylic onCanvas                             What started as a landscape painting of the sunrise over a lake, morphed into an unintended abstract. I'd primed the canvas but noticed unintended lines and texture created by the priming gesso and the brush. They were too visible, so I randomly took some brushes and painted the canvas with the paints intended for my original landscape. I'm happy with that which I did not intend.

Trash to Treasure                                           Painted December 4

21" x 28" Acrylic on Discarded Countertop    While training for my next ultramarathon, a 72-hr event in April, I came across a pile of trash on the trail with the beautiful autumn trees. I found what looked like a countertop. I lugged it home, about a mile away, then hopped on our bathroom scale. It weighs 15 pounds. After sanding and priming it, I used a couple of brushes and a variety of paint colors, and let the Spirit direct them.

Rainbow Sky                                                    Painted December 10

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas                                About two years ago, I painted a memory of a double rainbow over a massive lake at the site of my first 24-hr ultramarathon in 2012. I liked everything about the painting except the double rainbows. That painting became an abstract when I painted over it. It was named by a follower who had no knowledge of the origin of the painting, and that it involved a double rainbow.

Cliff Dwelling                                                     Painted December 13

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas                                I waited until now to paint a memory of our second national park visit this past summer, Mesa Verde. The park is full of stunning cliff dwellings. This painting was challenging. I still have a lot to learn about perspective and so much more. But what I love about this effort and my interpretation of the cliff dwelling is the bright and light earth tones and colors of Mesa Verde.

I hope you've enjoyed my "gallery" of seventeen paintings. I'm happy to share that Driveway Garden was exhibited at the 58th Annual Camden County Seniors Citizens Art Contest and Exhibition in the month of September. It was my second participation since I began painting.

My painting Prairie Grasslands in Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, along with the works of other emerging artists, was selected for exhibition in the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine at Penn: A Celebration of Art & Life 2024-25. You can see Prairie Grasslands in Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota and other national parks paintings in my first solo art exhibition in 2024 here.

How do my landscapes and abstracts make you feel? What do my paintings remind you of? My abstract paintings have received the most responses. About Whatever You Want It to Be, one person commented: "I like it. I see various landscapes, water, desert, blue skies. I see hurdles that one must go through, seasons of life one needs to go through but achievable." Another follower saw "lily pads."

When I couldn't come up with a name for another one of my abstracts, I asked for suggestions. One follower suggested Road Vibes. Another follower, as noted above, suggested Rainbow Sky. Given the history of this painting, it was the perfect name. Why didn't I think of that! Trash to Treasure has received the most responses:

"Really like this."

"That is awesome Miriam! It reminds me of a rainbow. My eyes saw all of the colors and my thought went right to a rainbow. It is such a happy picture."

"A rainbow was invited to a dance, the colors are carefree."

"Messy church."

"Brightness from your feet looking forward."

"That makes me really happy. Almost like a rain shower with the drops reflecting different colors from the sun."

"It makes me feel happy and hopeful."

I hope my paintings inspire you to start playing with paint and to create.

"Creativity take courage." ~ Henri Matisse

"Every canvas is a journey all its own." ~ Helen Frankenhaler

©2024

I am the author of Come What May, I Want to Run: A Memoir of the Saving Grace of Ultrarunning in Overwhelming Times. You can order it from the publisher, Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble here. It's available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and Kindle.