Seth Allen is a contemporary abstract painter who starts with a feeling and works until the painting catches up to it. Layers go down, then come back off— sanded, revealed, reconsidered— until something underneath surfaces that was truer than what came first. Two decades on stage taught him about timing, pacing, and the moment an audience feels something shift. He brings all of that to a canvas that can't speak, and somehow it does. Allen is an abstract painter whose work begins with a feeling—an underlying tone or energy that takes shape through line, color, and surface. Each painting develops through a layered process of application and removal, with paint built up and then sanded back to reveal hidden hues and emerging rhythms beneath. The work evolves through uncovering as much as through making. Allen studied theatre in Los Angeles and New York City and spent more than two decades performing across stage, film, television, and radio. He co-founded The Verona Studio, a black box theatre in Salem, Oregon, known for its experimental and demanding work. That practice —built on attention, presence, and emotional precision —carried directly into painting. His canvases develop through layering and removal, paint applied and sanded back until hidden color and rhythm emerge from beneath. Crisp lines meet softened fields. Earlier decisions leave traces. A painting is finished when it communicates the feeling that started it. Allen's work has been exhibited in Los Angeles, Portland, Salem, and Palm Desert. Work by Seth Allen is available through Illumine Gallery. Please inquire for commissions and shipping.