Coming Together

18 x 14in. oil on canvas

    I was feeling a little tired after spending the last two nights not sleeping well because of my young daughter who has been feeling a little under the weather and as you know, you always sleep with one eye open when your kids are sick. It also didn't help that I went out last night. Not too late of a night but something I am not used to doing on a regular basis.
Today was a quiet and sort of a somber day and a struggle to get out of bed this morning. It was cloudy outside, looking like it was going to rain any second. I finally managed to make it to the studio, even if it was a little later than usual. I wasn't really planning to do much, maybe some sketching and prepping some canvas for next week's work.
As I sat there looking at yesterday's work, I started to ease into working and thought I would go as far as my energy would take me, thinking that that wouldn't be too far. As it turns out, I think I had one of my best days working, ever. It wasn't that I painted a lot or even for very long, just that everything was coming out great. I could do no wrong I thought. The colours where working and everything was blending and mixing just I saw it in my head. You cannot believe what a great feeling it is when everything you do turns out.
I probably had more bad days than good days spent pushing paint around on a canvas, searching and probing and nothing turning out good. Some artists like to work with a plan and basically the same way each time by doing studies and sketches of their work, which can contributes to the work maybe turning out quicker.
Others like myself like to work in a more spontaneous and unplanned way. I get to the studio and get to work not really knowing what I want to do with a particular piece, only that I want to start it and work things out directly on the canvas.
This might not be a great idea because you most often end up discarding, covering up and even destroying a lot of the good things that happen on the canvas along the way.
This process might mean spending longer periods of time working on a piece.

16 x 20in. oil on canvas

It can also lead to periods of uncertainty and to being unsure about what you want to accomplish with the work and most importantly, about trusting your instincts as to when a particular piece is finished, as has been the case on a number of occasions with my work and myself.
What is most rewarding and interesting though, is that same uncertainty. The highs and lows associated with the knowledge you gain, as you venture further and further into the work. It is about what you end up leaving behind that is  indeed a huge contributing factor to the history and final result of each piece and how all at once, it comes together on the same surface.