Learning to See
Exploring Abstract Composition
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Free Live 3-Day Artist Talk & Demo with Jenny Nelson
October 15-17, 2025. Sessions: 12:00-1:30pm ET
Join me for this live virtual event! Can't make the date? Register anyway and I'll send you daily replays. Sign up below and I'll see you inside! — Jenny
Abstract Composition Can Be Challenging
While much compositional knowledge is intuitive, learning how to recognize and use spatial principles such as rhythm, balance, focal points, and directional movement gives you powerful tools that can change and elevate your work in unexpected ways.
These demos will help to enliven your paintings, and begin training your eye to make stronger compositions.Â
During our 3 days together, you'll learn to:
- Look critically at master works to recognize how shape relationships create strong compositions
- Learn how and why your eye moves around a work
- See what roles verticals, diagonals and horizontals play in your painting
- Develop a keener eye for identifying balance, contrast, and focal points
- And you'll join me in conversation with fellow painters about their challenges and solutions regarding these themes
 Plus there will be a Q&A and recorded replays each day.
Schedule
Day 1:Â Composition Part- 1
October 15, 12-1:30pm ET
- Artist Discussion of concepts and Master Works
- Â Composition Demo part-1
- Q&A
- Replay available within 24 hours
Day 2: Composition Part-2
October 16, 12-1:30pm ET
- Artist Discussion of concepts and Master Works
- Composition Demo part-2Â
- Intro to my Exploring Abstraction program for continued learning in abstract painting
- Q&A
- Replay available within 24 hours
Day 3: Artist Panel
October 17, 12-1:30pm ET
- Interactive discussion with a few of my students about creative challenges and visual solutions in their paintings
- Â A look behind the scenes of my Exploring Abstraction online course
- Q&A
- Replay available within 24 hours
Art that Makes Your Heart Sing
That's the feeling you get when you see work that stimulates you and elevates your senses. I've always thought the best response we can have as painters to a painting is the immediate need to get to our studios and put paint to canvas. That reflexive instinct to express ourselves through our materials with fervor.
Developing a unique language and gaining mastery of composition is a combination of knowing the rules, intuition, and letting the magic happen.Â
When a composition becomes unified, no single element of the piece distracts us from comprehending the artwork as a whole. Individual elements might stand out or be dominant, but if the work is unified, all of the parts end up with a feeling that is overall 'right'.
This discussion and training will help you improve your ability to create strong compositions. To see with new eyes. These are some of the foundations of good abstract works...but often where artists can get stuck.Â
Is This for You?
Whether you are new to abstract painting or a seasoned artist, even if abstraction is not your primary genre, the principles we'll discuss will train your eye to recognize the nuances of shape relationships and help you to see your work in new ways!Â
Can't Make the Dates?
Register anyway and I'll send you daily replays!
About Jenny
Jenny Nelson is a painter and arts educator. She attended Maine College of Art in Portland Maine, and is a graduate of Bard College, where she received a scholarship to the Lacoste School of the Arts in France. She has been living in the Hudson Valley for over two decades, including a Residency at the Byrdcliffe Art Colony from 2004-08. She has taught classes and workshops at the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, the Woodstock School of Art, the Nantucket Artists Association, and Lubin House, through Syracuse University. Jenny has been exhibiting for many years nationally and regionally including, the Hidell Brooks Gallery in Charlotte, North Carolina,  the Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY and the Anne Loucks Gallery in Chicago. She has guided thousands of students to expand their skills in abstract painting through her workshops and online courses.
