“Remains of the Day”
The two paintings here are UNFINISHED.
But that’s not the full shame of it.
Both were started in another year. The one at the top of the post was started in 2012 and put aside several times throughout the last 2 years. The one at the bottom was started in early 2013. My goal is to finish both by the end of May.
Having something to work on is good. An unfinished piece can be easier to get into. The key is determining why they were stopped in the first place. Some paintings are just boring and get abandoned because there is nowhere to go and more hours will only be wasted. Some are unfinished because they are important and the painter was not ready. I like to think both of these paintings are unfinished because I wasn’t ready.
For those who have been with me for the last 3 years, you know there have been a lot of changes. And just when I thought the wave was receding, I realized it’s not quite over yet. The tsunami may not have passed, but escaping to higher ground wasn’t the answer. Stepping into the wave is scary. Gasping and thrashing – resisting – is natural, but resistance is futile. Sometimes the surge, if you let it, will take you where you need to go.
A work is never completed except by some accident such as weariness, satisfaction, the need to deliver, or death: for, in relation to who or what is making it, it can only be one stage in a series of inner transformations.
~Paul Valéry (poet and symbolist)
“On the Turquoise Trail”
Don’t wait as long as I did.
I put down my brushes and pencils in 1994 and 20 years later I picked them up again 🙁
I was thinking of you yesterday as I drove back from Algonquin (in the pouring rain, I might add) and saw the “Muskoka” sign
I am plodding away. I’m not sure they’ll ever get put down. Glad to see you’re picking yours up again!
It’s been a while since I’ve been in Muskoka now….. Might get to visit in the Fall.
If you don’t meet your goal of finishing them by May, its not a big deal. there is always next May 😉
Some pieces are just not meant to be finished, like you said. the painter is not ready for the painting. some pieces the artist will never be ready for :/ but it doesn’t stop an artist from trying to create, and thats what makes an artist an artist….if that makes any sense,(I have had about 4 hours sleep, things probably don’t make sense lol)
Lol! Thanks Jennifer Rose….
No. They are getting finished this summer. Period. Or not at all and I’ll move on. I just think they are symbolic of one thing ending and another truly beginning.
You are a hero for getting on with it no matter what!
Check our Jennifer Rose’s blog folks….!!
Michelle, please let me know if you finish the top one, I’m sure you know why. I wouls be interested in that piece for my Dad.
Of course!
Nice to hear from you Jenn. I think of your family often.
Thanks so much for posting these “unfinished” paintings. The artist process IS so fascinating. I’ve had things I’m very thankful to put aside and come back. I looking at these and thinking you will be too. Thematically, they are like bookends for your art journey too.
Thanks, Ingrid. They certainly are a reflection of the transition!
Hope by now you’ve added some more touches to these paintings. They are beautiful work in progress, and, love the title of the first one. 😉
LOL! Yes… I knew you’d pick up on the title…
Thanks. The first one is almost done. Hoping to finish in the coming week!