Rob Middleton began a lifelong commitment to abstract expressionist painting while a psychology major at Princeton University. In the over 20 years since then Middleton has utilized a multitude of techniques and materials all in the service of producing abstraction with minimal pattern. One intention of this style of art is to encourage the mind to rest and experience a free flow of thoughts and emotions unconstrained by objective reality. Viewers are free to find their own meaning in a Middleton painting, or no meaning at all. Works are rarely given titles that themselves impose an order or meaning onto the painting. For similar reasons, Middleton avoids the imposition of a signature beyond marking his works with only an iconic R.