Where I Was Unafraid – Original Abstract Acrylic Painting by Erin McGrath Rieke
About this Artwork
Where I Was Unafraid is an original abstract acrylic painting I created in 2024 after traveling through the red deserts and canyons of Utah. Standing in that landscape felt both grounding and disorienting in the best possible way. The scale of the open sky, the silence held inside the canyons, and the endless layers of red earth created a kind of stillness I had been searching for without realizing it.
This painting grew out of that experience.
I wanted to capture not only the physical landscape of the desert, but the emotional shift that happened within me while I was there. In the desert, everything unnecessary seemed to fall away. My thoughts slowed. My body softened. Fear loosened its grip for a moment, and what remained was presence. Breath. Openness. A feeling of being fully awake inside myself again.
The brushstrokes and warm earth tones reflect the textures of canyon walls, sunlit stone, shifting shadows, and the quiet movement of desert air. I worked intuitively, building the surface gradually through layers of acrylic paint, allowing color and gesture to mirror both memory and emotion.
Where I Was Unafraid became a meditation on resilience, healing, and the places that return us to ourselves. More than a desert-inspired abstract painting, it is a reflection of emotional freedom and the deep calm that can emerge when we allow ourselves to stand still long enough to listen.
Artwork Details
Artist: Erin McGrath Rieke
Title: Where I Was Unafraid
Year Created: 2024
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Artwork Size: 16 W x 20 H x 1.5 D in
Style: Abstract / Contemporary Abstract
Subject: Emotional landscape, desert inspiration, resilience
Series: —
Original Artwork: One-of-a-kind
Frame: Optional
Additional Information
My abstract paintings are often rooted in lived experience, memory, and emotional atmosphere. In Where I Was Unafraid, the desert became both subject and metaphor. I was drawn to the way the landscape held contradiction so effortlessly. Vast yet intimate. Harsh yet calming. Empty yet completely alive.
The layered acrylic surfaces and organic movement throughout the painting reflect my ongoing interest in creating contemporary abstract artwork that feels immersive, emotional, and deeply connected to place. I wanted the painting to carry the sensation of standing inside open space where clarity and vulnerability can exist together.
Like much of my work, this piece invites viewers to connect through their own experiences and emotional landscapes. Each layer reveals itself slowly over time, much like memory itself.
Collecting Original Artwork
My original abstract acrylic paintings explore emotional landscapes, memory, resilience, and the relationship between environment and internal experience. Every painting is created by hand as a one-of-a-kind contemporary artwork using layered texture, intuitive movement, and expressive abstraction.
Collectors drawn to contemporary abstract desert paintings, emotional abstraction, and nature-inspired artwork may also connect with other original works by Erin McGrath Rieke.
Where I Was Unafraid – Original Abstract Acrylic Painting by Erin McGrath Rieke
About this Artwork
Where I Was Unafraid is an original abstract acrylic painting I created in 2024 after traveling through the red deserts and canyons of Utah. Standing in that landscape felt both grounding and disorienting in the best possible way. The scale of the open sky, the silence held inside the canyons, and the endless layers of red earth created a kind of stillness I had been searching for without realizing it.
This painting grew out of that experience.
I wanted to capture not only the physical landscape of the desert, but the emotional shift that happened within me while I was there. In the desert, everything unnecessary seemed to fall away. My thoughts slowed. My body softened. Fear loosened its grip for a moment, and what remained was presence. Breath. Openness. A feeling of being fully awake inside myself again.
The brushstrokes and warm earth tones reflect the textures of canyon walls, sunlit stone, shifting shadows, and the quiet movement of desert air. I worked intuitively, building the surface gradually through layers of acrylic paint, allowing color and gesture to mirror both memory and emotion.
Where I Was Unafraid became a meditation on resilience, healing, and the places that return us to ourselves. More than a desert-inspired abstract painting, it is a reflection of emotional freedom and the deep calm that can emerge when we allow ourselves to stand still long enough to listen.
Artwork Details
Artist: Erin McGrath Rieke
Title: Where I Was Unafraid
Year Created: 2024
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Artwork Size: 16 W x 20 H x 1.5 D in
Style: Abstract / Contemporary Abstract
Subject: Emotional landscape, desert inspiration, resilience
Series: —
Original Artwork: One-of-a-kind
Frame: Optional
Additional Information
My abstract paintings are often rooted in lived experience, memory, and emotional atmosphere. In Where I Was Unafraid, the desert became both subject and metaphor. I was drawn to the way the landscape held contradiction so effortlessly. Vast yet intimate. Harsh yet calming. Empty yet completely alive.
The layered acrylic surfaces and organic movement throughout the painting reflect my ongoing interest in creating contemporary abstract artwork that feels immersive, emotional, and deeply connected to place. I wanted the painting to carry the sensation of standing inside open space where clarity and vulnerability can exist together.
Like much of my work, this piece invites viewers to connect through their own experiences and emotional landscapes. Each layer reveals itself slowly over time, much like memory itself.
Collecting Original Artwork
My original abstract acrylic paintings explore emotional landscapes, memory, resilience, and the relationship between environment and internal experience. Every painting is created by hand as a one-of-a-kind contemporary artwork using layered texture, intuitive movement, and expressive abstraction.
Collectors drawn to contemporary abstract desert paintings, emotional abstraction, and nature-inspired artwork may also connect with other original works by Erin McGrath Rieke.
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