30×30 inches   oil on canvas  2016

Finishing touches put on yesterday.

I try so very hard not to overwork my paintings.   It’s all about the freshness  –   a snippet in time  –   movement,  and energy.   My personality seems to lend itself to quicker work.   If I find myself getting too fussy or precious,  I get tight,  bored and am likely to scrape it all off at the end of the day.   (Have done this more often than I want to admit 🙂 )   And if I’m bored,  then …..  well,  you’re right there with me in boredom land.

Hardly a foolproof system.

Janet Fish once told me,  sometimes all you need to get back in the game is a visual break  –  go for a walk into nature –  then come back and look again.   That fresh eye can make all the difference!….  especially when I get lost in the process and just can’t see it anymore.

Another tip from the art world:   view paintings in a mirror.   Try it  – it’s fun!    New image entirely.    Art reboot.