In 1912 the poet Guillaume Apollinaire defined Pure Abstraction as "the art of painting new structures out of elements that have not been borrowed from the visual sphere, but had been created entirely by the artist... it is a pure art." I begin my paintings with blind drawing, a discipline which relies on my body's spatial sensibility to create a balance of lines and forms. The resulting composition is a stable framework within which I can freely play with colour, with my eyes open. This way of working connects to a deep and vital, joyful intelligence which is rarely accessible through sight and conscious mind alone. ____ Verna Vogel is a first-generation Canadian visual artist who has been practising for several decades. Their artworks have been shown in public and commercial art galleries across Canada, and their paintings have been acquired by collectors around the world. They graduated with honours from the Studio Arts Foundation Program at Capilano College in Vancouver, BC. where they studied painting, drawing, sculpture, and print making. They then received an international study grant to attend the Malaysian Institute of Art (MIA) in Kuala Lumpur for a full calendar year, and graduated from MIA's third year Fine Arts Program with a focus on Chinese ink painting. Verna was born in Canada's Great Lakes region, and currently lives and works in the Prairies. Creating and showing their work, teaching, and arts advocacy are ways in which they hope to contribute to a balanced world.