“Shimmering Forest” 48″ x 36″ oil and metal leaf – $4,300
I once was chatting with another artist at an opening and mentioned that my goal this year is completing all of my unfinished paintings in the studio. She was horrified and said that she completed each painting before starting another one and had no unfinished work.
This, in turn, baffled me because each of my paintings has a long journey of many painting hours and even more “thinking” time before I sign it and release it. Sometimes I put a painting aside because of some deadline such as a show or submission that requires a different size canvas or subject. Other times the painting is giving me a composition problem and I want to think about how to solve it.
I usually take the painting into the house and look at it in different lighting before making a decision. Sometimes I get back to it when another painting has solved a similar problem and I realize it will work for the first one. This process can take weeks, months or even years and can also involve using different mediums to complete the painting to my satisfaction.
This was the case with the painting above and probably took longer to solve than any painting I have completed in recent years. It went through several layers of paint and a final addition of metal leaf before I decided it was finished, so I was very happy when it was selected by the Rental/Sales Gallery jury for the fall show.
Last week I discovered it was also selected from my other entries in a competition of the Healing Power of Art exhibit – “Our Bond with Nature” which shows artwork by 66 international artists. The on-line exhibit will continue until the end of December and can be seen by clicking on this link.
