In the recent blog Misty Mountain Hop, I discussed a painting I had finished but was not prepared to abandon. I spent a pleasant hour or two on Veteran's Day adding some dibs and dabs here and there and am now prepared to abandon it.
Leonardo da Vinci is purported to have said "Art is never finished, only abandoned." I suspect this is no more valid an attribution than the myriad sayings falsely accredited to Mark Twain. Nonetheless, I know what ol' LdV, or whoever, was getting at.
This painting has not yet been abandoned. As with the majority of my paintings, what ended up on the canvas does not jibe with what I envisioned when I began. It's been sitting on the easel for several weeks now, and I've looked at it tapping my head like Winnie the Pooh and grumbling "Think Think Think." What I am trying to think of is what can I do to this damn thing so I can abandon it.
The scene is Afton Mountain Vineyards just off the Blue Ridge with morning mist hovering over Route 151 behind it. The problem, as I see it, is that the painting cannot make up its mind as to what style it wants to be. Is it folk artish? No, except maybe this part over here. Is it palette-knifey? No, it started that way, then meandered off towards something less jagged and more whimsical. Is it whimsical, though? No, not really. Forget all that, does it have appeal? Not to me, no. At least not quite. Yet.
So I'm throwing it up on the website for all to see it as is, knowing that I'm going to apply more paint to it. This will either solve things or ruin it. Either way, it can then be properly abandoned. If this makes any sense at all, I suppose it means you've been there too. If not, all I can tell you is that it is this niggling force inside you that just won't go away until you solve or ruin.
As far as solving, well, that's the goal. As to ruining, well, it's only a piece of canvas and there are plenty more of them out there.
Stay tuned.
