Blurring the Lines~ Abstract or Figurative? Decim8,TangledFX, ImageBlender...

Today the opening image was described by a revered iPhone photographer and art educator, as more of a "Figurative" image when I posted it in an abstract on line iPhone group.
(He was not criticizing, just saying.)
I am an not an art educator by degree, although I have done a lot of studying, so I deferred. However, I am an MBA, who loves art and loves to analyze.......
So, is this a "Figurative" image instead of an "Abstract" image? Hmmm, that made me think, which is a good thing! It also made me wonder about the new process of image creation with the iPhone and all the cool and crazy apps we have to distort reality! This image was NOT created from a sunflower, now there is my question...If we create an image from a source image and the final image, does not  have any recognizable features from the original source image: is it still "Figurative" because it looks like a recognizable subject in our mind?
Here I took an image which had nothing to do with the "perceived" reality of the final image and "reversed engineered" so to speak an image which to me was abstract, but had a familiar shape color and dimension to a recognizable subject a sunflower...and there in lies the question...because it resulted in a familiar subject in real life is it a "figurative" or an "abstract" image? You decide!
Here is how this image evolved.
I made a panoramic sequence of an abstract painting in the National Gallery of Art a couple weeks ago when I was conducting an iPhone workshop. Last night I selected one image out of the image sequence to run through Decim8 and "fracture." Fracture is what I feel like Decim8 does to an image.
One of the iterations resulted in an image which I used as a base to the final image.

Original source file

Image result from Decim8

Image run through TangledFX

Image flipped in Snapseed to put weight at the bottom of the image, and shift the diagonal lines. Then changed color in Color Thief from another image.
(I have never liked purples and pinks, but love the color vibration of blues and yellows.)

So there is the process I used to get to this image...so "Abstract" or "Figurative" does the manner in which the image is created change the label "Abstract" or "Figurative"?
Is it "Figurative" simply because our mind might identify a similar shape or color combination in the real world? You decide...thoughts and comments are welcome!

I still have a few spots open in my all day iPhone workshop on March 8 in Gaithersburg, Md.
Click here to register and for more info

Abstraction ~ Decim8~ Glaze~ Image Blender

Abstracts have a fun place in my workflow, with the iPhone's ability to process images using creative apps. The apps I have been using for a few recent abstract images are Decim 8, Glaze, Tangled FX, PhotoWizard and of course ImageBlender to mosh them up by arranging pieces from one to another, masking out and choosing blend modes. Then I run the images into Glaze and come up with a cool filter to "paint" and blend the colors together. The image above started as an iPhone picture of a stained glass window! Now that's some pixel bending!

After maaaannnyyyy processes I landed on the abstract below...which I liked.

This image has many layers using four images arranged one over the other in the app ImageBlender. The apps I used to get to this point include: Glaze, ImageBlender, PhotoWizard, Rollage Kyoobik, Tangled FX,

Then I ran the abstract above through a couple iterations in Decim8 and landed on the image below. I liked it! It looked like a spring field, a cool sky scape and a blue landscape...so I then wanted to mosh the colors up in Glaze and landed on the opening image.

Decim8 also gave me one more iteration I liked but I didn't feel it was as strong as the one I selected. The weight in the image is a little different and the sky effect is a little too bright by comparison. But I am not going to throw it away because I like pieces of it especially the pools of blue in the bottom, and may use it in another image blend later on. If you like surprises and abstracts try Decim8! for some unexpected image "fractures."
...............and if you can join me for my next day long iPhone workshop with Capital Photography Center, here's the link! CLICK HERE ....We will be covering lots of apps for shooting, processing and managing images as well as great iPhone info! Hope to see you there!

Decim8

This is another one of the Crazy apps. It is a very random effect as far as I can see. This is the original image made with the Hipstamatic app as a frame of reference. The following images were made with the Decim8 app. It reminds me of some abstract art from the 60's..its fun to see what it does when you are working with it. Dennis Colligan was the first iPhoneographer I saw use this app in a very creative way. His blog can be found here. http://www.Creativeiphoneography.wordpress.comhttp://www.Creativeiphoneography.wordpress.com

Original image stained glass