In the Swing of Things: abstract floral art
- Rebecca Vincent
- Oct 1
- 5 min read
It’s been about three years since I returned to painting after three decades as a specialist printmaker, and I finally feel like I’m finding my rhythm. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ll know I’m best known for my landscape monotypes—which I’m still creating alongside this new body of work.
Every artist, I think, understands the compulsion to explore, experiment, and investigate new subjects, styles, and techniques. Since beginning this journey in paint, I’ve gone through many iterations, and I’m delighted to share my latest series, which carries a loosely floral theme.
These works were created on paper joined into a long strip, like a concertina sketchbook. I discovered this approach after taking a course with Karen Stamper, and I found it to be a compelling way of working. The way marks and colours flow from one sheet to the next creates something unexpected and breaks away from conventional composition.
I’m especially fond of this first series—Go with the Flow—because it developed so freely, without a plan, and with a sense of joyful spontaneity. They reminded me of the abstract expressionist pieces I made as a student, yet fused with the natural forms that have been central to my artistic career.
The process itself was immensely satisfying. I reached for the tools and techniques I love most: rolling paint onto the surface, spraying and blotting to lift colour away, adding crisp drawn lines, layering stencilled silhouettes, and using bold collage shapes to anchor the compositions.
Although I rarely use black in my printmaking, here it felt essential—both on the surface and within the motifs. Flower paintings can sometimes feel a little saccharine, but the black brings depth, mystery, and strength.
The collaged leaf shapes reminded me of Matisse’s paper cut-outs, which I’ve adored since I was a girl. In the 1940s, when illness made it difficult for him to paint and draw in the traditional way, Matisse turned to this new technique he called “painting with scissors.” He cut shapes directly from painted paper, arranging them into bold, colourful compositions. These cut-outs gave him a new freedom to explore form, movement, and colour—resulting in some of his most iconic and joyful works.
Matisse often repeated and overlapped leaf shapes in his collages, creating harmony and balance, almost like a visual dance. He distilled the natural world into its essence: bold silhouettes and vibrant hues, giving his work both vitality and decorative power. If you’d like to explore his collage style further, there’s a lovely article here that explains how to replicate his method.
Buoyed by the success of Go with the Flow, I went on to create several more works—three in the concertina style and two larger, standalone pieces. For these, I restricted my palette to a high-key range of colours: Quinacridone Magenta, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Payne’s Grey, and Titanium White. While this set can produce neutrals, I chose to keep the colours clear and luminous.
I worked intuitively, responding to each new layer of paint while leaving open spaces to suggest sunlight pouring in. Music playing in the studio kept my hands and body moving fluidly, without hesitation, and I gave each piece a musical title to reflect the rhythmic beat of the compositions. The triptych All That Jazz, for example, takes its name from Matisse’s book Jazz.
The final three works are larger and continue my ongoing exploration of evening light in the garden. They still use the leaf silhouettes but evoke a stronger sense of place. In Dance in Fields of Gold, I felt the composition needed more detail to draw the eye, so I added the pink flowers of Rosebay Willowherb (also known as Fireweed)—a natural extension of the leaf motifs I’d been using. The fine stems brought a new kind of focus, contrasting beautifully with the colour. The abstracted background and the fine detail of the flowers seem to represent the two sides of my creative character: expressive and free versus ordered and detailed.
This year, the poppies have been magnificent, and I wanted to capture not only how they look but also the feeling of seeing them lit from behind by the golden evening light. Poppies Bathed in Gold came first, followed by In the Evening Glow, which developed the theme further.
If you're interested in purchasing any of my abstract floral art pieces please get in touch by email info@rebecca-vincent.co.uk or phone/text +447717256169. I can send more photos and discuss framing options that suit your home. You can also call at my studio on a Wednesday or Friday to see them for yourself.
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Lovely as always. It is such fun to experiment with new studies!
These are really beautiful, both image and colour. Successful and satisfying.