Is there Meaning In My Paintings?

I’m not the only artist who struggles with this but it is my struggle

How can I use paint to show that life is about more than what we see? Isn’t the painting suppose to have some meaning and if so, what do mine mean?

I know the meaning of this one, I love boats!  But that’s not what I’m working on now.

What do the non-representational pieces mean.  That’s a question I ask myself often. Questions and struggles have guided and shaped the careers of some of the world’s leading artists.

Monet struggled with light in his landscapes.

Van Gogh struggled with life and acceptance.

Jackson Pollock hurled paint at canvas, originally in frustration, and he turned the art world upside down.

And I find myself most often painting just because I like to do it, not thinking that there will be any special meaning to the piece.  I just hope that as the experimenting moves along something that makes a good painting will evolve.  Experimenting is the key to what I do now, “what will happen if I….” is most often on my mind. 

I suppose my subconscious is saying something because I’m usually alone in my studio when I’m working on these non-representational or abstract pieces. Everything I’ve read says there is a meaning in every stroke.  If that’s true is there a key to knowing what that meaning?  Or is that just something that the experts claim to know? One thing it means to me – as long as I’m painting I can avoid housework.