The older I get, the more I realize the importance of trusting my instincts. They have never been wrong, but there have been times when I chose to ignore them because I didn't like what they were telling me, only to invariably end up regretting it.
I struggled with this painting for a few days until I got to the point where I just wanted it to be done so that I could move on to the next one. This is a small canvas (16" x 12") and I had an idea for a large painting that I was eager to begin working on. I decided that this was finished and headed off to bed, but as I walked back to the house from my studio, I felt this nagging feeling that the painting could be better. I tried to ignore it and went to bed. When I returned to the studio the following day, the feeling was still there. I really wanted to move on to the bigger canvas, but I chose instead to trust my gut and return to this one. I laid the canvas on the table and scraped most of the paint off and began the work of trying to bring the image back in a way that I would be truly happy with.
In the end, I am glad that I persevered. The ghost of the original painting that was left on the canvas after I scraped the paint off added a layer of spatial density that is very effective and those red-violets, which I really like, were not in the early incarnation of the painting.
In any creative endeavor, one must have patience. In spite of our hard work, some ideas will only come to fruition in their own time and an artist must allow for this.
