Death to the bad paintings that I can’t finish! I slave away in the studio working on paintings that start well and finish… actually they don’t finish at all. Last Monday, I decided out of total frustration that myself and the resident 9 year old, would set-to with destruction of said annoying art works…
- We dribbled paint on them! Thanks Jackson (Pollock)!
- We scraped paint across the top of them
- We drowned them by pouring paint on them
- We shot them with the cat ball dipped in paint
- We eradicated them, screamed at them, not really, well maybe
- and when all else fails we at least had fun and Tarbon proclaimed this a regular feature of our Monday nights
Bad, unfinished paintings, especially when they go on for weeks or months make me feel like giving up. The more I focus on the end result the further I end up being from achieving it.
At the end of the session I have one finished diptych and 5 ‘destroyed’ paintings that have been given a fresh start in life. I have been away for work the last week, so I will pick the others up again and start work on them tonight. Tarbon will have to wait another week for destruction night.
I think sometimes the idea of a painting being finished is the problem in itself, there definitely is a feeling when creating that something has come together and feels right. i also understand the feeling that something is just like a turtle flipped upside down and you can’t figure out how to flip the turtle over. i haven’t fully embraced this idea yet, but maybe if one thought that a piece of art, even when it feels where you are happy with it, is never finished, then that may help with the process flowing towards happiness in the present and future.
Hello Cairo,
Great to read you blog site and get some intelligent commentary.
Playing with different materials is always interesting as long as they don’t become ‘the thing’ in itself. You know what I mean. We can’t help but be fascinated with the alchemy of different materials as they attract or repel each other but they are still, in my view, better as part of something with a ‘bigger’ intent. Your work looks great though and should definately be left sooner that worked to death. I always remember that Picasso quote; something like “if you want to finish off a painting then take it outside, put a gun to it’s head and finish it off properly” Always leaving it open is great, then it can breathe.
That New York studio book is fantastic and I often copy examples off for students to read. Something about the candid way they describe things makes all things seem possible. It’s the critics and theoreticians who write impenetrable text and not artists. I always try to talk to students ‘like it is’ and from personal experience. If you do that you have abetter chance of capturing the attention of people. That goes for public speaking to some extent too. God, you still do feel like you want to be swallowed up when public talks are called for. The more you do it though the better. You would be great at it I bet. Pretty brave to watch yourself though….. I’m not sure I could do that.
Was it Picasso (Mr. Lovepants) who said an artwork was never finished but abandoned. I like that.
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