“Abstract work has its own way of explaining itself,” says Lina Alattar, an abstract painter at Touchstone Gallery who works in acrylics on canvas.  To understand how her paintings speak, she tunes into each one by being consciously aware and open.  “I just respond to the marks, because it’s the experience of painting that drives the painting.”  Knowing that nothing is scripted opens the door to tolerance for “accidents” that happen during the painting process.  For Lina, these unexpected happenings in the creative process preempt any preconceived ideas.  Each one shows her the possibility of going in a different direction, a road less traveled perhaps.  American contemporary painter Helen Frankenthaler summed it up saying, “You have to know how to use the accident, how to recognize it, how to control it, or ways to eliminate it so that the whole surface looks complete and born all at once.”