Experimenting with unusual materials such as glass and sand in her paintings, Sobel also turned to self-invented automatic techniques that resulted in abstract allover compositions, with paint dripped in spatters and continuous looping lines. According to her son, Sobel worked “freely and rapidly” when making enamel paintings such as Milky Way or Untitled. “She would prepare a 'ground' which would invariably suggest or trigger some 'idea' for her,” he said, “whose sudden conception was matched by an equally rapid execution. In her efforts to pin down her conception, she would pour the paint, tip the canvas, blow the wet lacquer, and if you had the misfortune to be too close—she would use your shirt sleeve as a daub.”

Milky Way, Janet Sobel, 1945