Re-working Old Paintings?????

I just read an article on Empty Easel about taking old paintings that haven't sold and re-working them to improve the composition, color balance, etc. It is funny to me how I can go for years without coming to a perfectly obvious revelation until someone else points it out for me. Re-working an old painting is something that I have never thought of. In fact, I am one of those artists that finishes a painting and never, ever touches it again. For some reason (unknown to even myself), once I finish a painting, I consider it finished. My mind has moved on to newer projects and I no longer feel the drive to pursue the "finished" painting. This may be admitting to weakness or fault, but the fact is that I have left "finished" paintings alone even when I could see problems with them.

So I'm curious...do many other artists have the courage and the tenacity to take a painting that is a year or so old and re-work it? The thought of touching the tip of a wet brush to a dried paint surface strikes fear to my heart the way a child fears the neighbor's vicious dog. I am truly intrigued with the idea of re-working some of my old paintings (I even have a few in mind), and perhaps one day I will be brave enough to re-juice the canvas for the second time. Perhaps I should replace my tendency to simply trash the unsuccessful painting with determination and perseverance.

Finally!

As many of you know, I have been working on this painting for quite some time now. I finally finished it today! HOORAY!!! It seemed like every time it was complete, I would pull it out and look at it and find one or two more things to fix. But this time, I believe it might really be finished. The top image is what the painting looked like this morning. My husband (as always, my biggest fan and critic) had been working me over about fixing the bottom of the painting so that it wasn't two big chunks of white and yellow. I was really distracted by the little white shed and the drawing problems that it had. So today I found a few minutes, pulled the painting out and went to work. The bottom image shows the final results. I am really happy with this painting and I hope that it does well! The only problem with it right now is that I can't seem to get the beautiful colors in the original painting to transfer into a photograph very well. I may have to seek out a friend with a better camera, or bite the bullet and have it professionally scanned or photographed. When I do get a better image, I will post that as well.

PS. I absolutely love the texture in this painting!

The Creative Force

As an artist, there is an inner force, a driving need to create something beautiful. My inspiration comes from the desire to create something worthwhile, something that will change the world and make it a better place. The purpose of my artwork is to uplift and inspire others, to brighten their day, their living space, and their lives.

There was a wonderful article on Fine Art Views today that I thought I would share.

Why do You Create?
by Clint Watson

This article is by Clint Watson, former art gallery owner/director/salesperson and founder of FineArtViews. You should follow Clint on Twitter here.

Do you feel the same way Sarah Lacy does?

"I physically need to make art. Art isn't just a hobby for me. It's not something that I “like”. It's an intense passion, an ecstatic love affair, with as much turmoil, frustration, exasperation and need as a forbidden liaison." – Sarah Lacy

Or, think about what successful artist/blogger/cartoonist Hugh MacLeod says:

"The Hunger [to create] will give you everything. And it will take from you, everything. It will cost you your life, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it." - Hugh MacLeod
There’s a common thread among artists who succeed. They are passionate about what they do and, they don’t want to do anything else. In some cases, they don’t even feel they can do anything else.

If you’re passionate about your art, then this message is for you. Those of us who are passionate about art know something that will sound corny to the rest of you:
Art Changes Lives. Art Can Change the World. And Successful Artists Want to Change the World.

In most cases, changing the world starts inside of the artist. Look at Sarah and Hugh. Their world is already a better place…and thus, the world is a better place. Simply because they have both listened to that voice inside of them that says, you must create. Imagine Hugh stuck inside a cubical working on spreadsheets. Anyone who knows or follows him is laughing – that idea simply doesn’t compute…especially considering he calls many of his cartoons “cube grenades.” Or think about Sarah making smoothies all day instead of paintings….she’d be miserable (she actually did have a smoothie job…and she was miserable. You can read the entire tumultuous account on her blog at http://www.smlacyart.com/blog.)

The wonderful news is that as Dr. Stephen Covey said in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “Private Victories Precede Public Victories.” Once you change your world, by listening to that little voice, to the Hunger…you change our world too. Your artwork is a gift…no….a responsibility. And you need to share it with the world. We’re all waiting for you to share it with us.

So, I ask you, why do you create?
----------------------------------------------
This article appears courtesy of FineArtViews by Canvoo, a free email newsletter about art, marketing, inspiration and fine living for artists, collectors and galleries (and anyone else who loves art).This article originally appeared at:http://clintwatson.net/blog/16239/Why-do-You-CreateFor a complimentary subscription, visit: http://www.fineartviews.com
-----------------------------------------------

Whether you are an artist or not, you most likely create something. What is your driving force? Why do you spend the time, energy, and skill on creating what you do?

Waiting and Waiting

I thought I should just give you all a heads up that the reason I haven't posted anything lately is because I am waiting for my painting to dry. Because it was done with palette knife, the paint is really thick and takes quite a while to dry.

Oh, and by the way, I did peek at it again, and I am still satisfied with the results. I can't wait until it's dry and I have a good image to post!

One of the things that I hate most of all in this world is the horrible transfer of color from a painting to a photograph. Just so everyone knows, this is NOT the finished painting. Even though this is not the finished piece, it still took me a few days to get to this point. The reason is mostly that I have to work within "mother's hours" which greatly limits the quantity of uninterrupted time that I can spend on a painting.

As always, my husband is my biggest fan/critic. He hated the painting at this point and kept telling me that it didn't look right. Instead of thinking ill of him or believing that he is a harsh and unfair man, please understand that as an artist, I NEED him to be brutally honest with me. Unearned kindness and false praise gets me absolutely nowhere. After debating about this painting for a few days, we decided on a few things that were working and a few that were not. So I spent a few more days working on it and the finished painting is now lying flat on a shelf so that it can dry. Once it is dry and I can get a good image of the finished painting, I will post that. I am quite happy with the results, or at least I was the last time I looked at it. It has been a few days since I peeked at the finished piece, so maybe I should do that before I go and make promises of posting a finished painting!

Progress

I've made quite a bit of progress on my painting yesterday and today. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to photograph my progress, so you are just going to have to wait until I am able to juggle it into my schedule. So far, I am pleased with how the painting is turning out. I will keep working on it and hopefully it will be fabulous by the time I am finished!

Working Day Today!

Remember THIS POST?

I was so excited about this painting, and then the holidays hit and I didn't get another chance to work on it. So now that I am back from my holiday travels, I finally have an opportunity to work on it a little bit today. We'll see how much I can get accomplished before my daughter wakes up from her nap! I might possibly have something to post tomorrow!

My Hallmark Card is Now Available

My Hallmark card is finally available for purchase online! I was one of twenty four winners, and I am absolutely thrilled to have my card published by Hallmark. To see my card and all the other winning cards, please CLICK HERE or click on the image above.

I am finally back from all my holiday traveling and so I will be posting more regularly again. It feels so good to be home! Happy New Year!