The end is just the beginning.
Making Art is a full time experience. A painting starts with desire, becomes a possibility with a sketch, and is born through patience, endurance, and faith. It’s like living encapsulated into a smaller moment–the rewards and challenges are a mirror to the bigger game we call life.
I remember how I felt when I sketched this piece. I felt free. Hopeful. Light. Loving. Possible. Wonder(full). I remember watching my hand lightly sketch something that made my lips curl with pleasure. She looked so sweet and dreamy. This is how I felt.
Getting a pencil sketch to become a painting is a little nerve racking for me. It means commitment to the possibility of disappointing myself (and others). Luckily it also means the opportunity for joy. Transferring a sketch from a piece of paper to a canvas requires a deep breath and relaxation. It’s important to retain the feeling and amplify it rather than copy it and risk losing something in translation. This is why no two pieces are ever the same even if they contain the same screaming bunnies, dancing puffs of air, and swirls of color.
The art-making process is one part exploration, one part problem solving, and a hundred parts play. I love using multiple canvases to represent one piece. I name and price each panel as it’s own piece, hoping that someone will buy a part of a painting and give it a home–allowing me to repaint the missing panel using different imagery. The idea is that the buyer, the viewer, the everyone is a part of the piece. The idea is that art is not in the final destination of an image but the birth of an intention.
So, as I wrap and ship this dreamy girl off to her new home in Denver I remind myself that it’s not the end. It’s just the beginning 🙂
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