Timing

Someone recently asked me which of my paintings took me the longest…good question! I immediately thought, well the largest ones of course, they involve so many layers upon layers of details and careful study and planning, sometimes taking me weeks to complete. But then I thought, wait a minute, I have some that I became completely stuck on, in that I mean not sure what to do next, or maybe “what’s wrong with this picture?” I know there’s something just not quite right but I can’t for the life of me figure out what it is! So I stare at it or stew over it for days, until I have to just put it away and not look at it anymore. It can drive me crazy, but then sometime later, (like maybe a year or more even!) I’ll pull it out and with fresh eyes be able to see what’s missing or wrong and Ta Da, it’s finished! Yep, those ones take a really long time.

Then I thought, no wait a minute…, there are some subjects that I soooo want to paint, particularly difficult ones with much more detail or complicated structure than I can even figure out. I know I’ll get to them eventually, but as much as I want to try to do it even scared, I know I would be in way over my head, or “boxing above my weight”…as I’ve been told I tend to do sometimes. So I put them off for someday, maybe when my skill levels are stronger and I’m less terrified of that flower!

So yeah, those take the longest, the ones I haven’t done yet but have been meaning to do for years. Stay tuned for those!