Rainbow Shattered Fragments
In my largest palette knife abstract painting thus far, layers of scraped color slowly evolved
into a calm, atmospheric composition filled with hidden fragments and unexpected harmony.
20 May 2026
I decided to go even bigger with my palette knife scraping technique. This time the canvas is 50 x 70 cm. I am still figuring out exactly how I feel about this one, but I am quite mesmerized by it and can easily get lost discovering new little gems hidden among the many layers. That is one of the things I love most about this technique. That, and the fact that it is incredibly calming to create.
My mind slows down, the constant chatter quiets, and an easy rhythm begins to form. A harmony between paint, palette knife, and canvas. The feeling is quite wonderful and honestly, if you have ever felt intimidated by painting but always wanted to try, this is such a freeing way to begin.
If you dislike something, you simply add another color on top or scrape away the parts that no longer feel right. The painting stays alive and continues growing with you. After a while, it almost begins to speak back, quietly suggesting where it wants a little more texture, a little less color, or another hidden layer revealed beneath the surface.
I know abstract art is not for everyone and I completely understand that, but I must say I am personally really enjoying the process of creating it. It makes me happy, and I feel surprisingly peaceful during the small moments I spend painting between the drying time of each layer. You nurture it, feed it with paint, and slowly help it grow into whatever it is meant to become, knowing full well that at any moment it could transform into something entirely different.
For now, I am choosing to sit with it exactly as it is.
My husband said he loved it and that it reminded him of the color palette from the late 1980s show Saved by the Bell, “but in a good way,” he quickly added. I could not help but laugh. I loved that show as a kid. I even got to attend a live taping once and somewhere I still have a signed cast photo tucked away. His comment unexpectedly brought back memories of my lime green stretchy pants. Man, those were cool.
But I digress.
Perhaps the colors are a little 1980s inspired, but I think they work beautifully together. Even with all the layered movement and scattered fragments of color, the painting still feels calm to me somehow.
As always, I let my son name my paintings. He stared at this one for quite a while before finally saying Rainbow Shattered Fragments because he could see pieces of every color scattered all across the canvas. Once again, I loved not only the title he chose, but hearing the imagination and thought process behind it.
The more I paint this way, the more I realize these layered abstract pieces are not really about perfection at all. They are about allowing space for change, rediscovery, and surprise. Sometimes the most meaningful parts of a painting are the layers you almost covered up, the colors you did not plan, or the fragments that somehow still found a way to belong together in the end.