Hi Friends,
After I sent out my artistic year-end review last week, several people wrote and said “all of your art is so wonderful.”
I appreciate the praise, but no, all of my art is not wonderful! Trust me on this one. I have plenty of rejects and failures just like everyone else. I’ve spent years going off on tangents that never amounted to anything, and more than once I’ve been on the edge of total despair, ready to give up.
Art is not a linear process. In order to grow as artists, we take risks and try things that don’t always work out. That’s the nature of art.
I thought it would be fun to give you a behind-the-scenes look at some of my less stellar work as a way to keep it real. Enjoy a good laugh at my expense!
This first piece looks like Alice in Wonderful was thrown into the blender and reguritated onto canvas.
24 x 24 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas, 2015
I’m not sure what I was thinking with this black piece. I guess I thought the background colors would show through more.
30 x 24 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on burlap, 2009
Doesn’t translate well into black and white.
14 x 11 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas, 2008
One of the least inspirational landscapes I have ever seen.
24 x 30 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas, 2009
This one just looks like muck.
30 x 24 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas, 2008
Not a good idea.
30 x 40 inches, acrylic paint on canvas, 2006
Very green.
36 x 36, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas, 2012
Strange alien landscape.
22 x 30 inches, acrylic paint on canvas, 2006
Kind of scary looking with the sprayed black around the edges.
30 x 24 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas, 2007
Not enough contrast or interest.
30 x 30 inches, iron oxide, graphite and repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas, 2017
And there are plenty more where those came from! I’ve just shown you a few of the lowlights.
Where’s your bleeding edge and how are you pushing the envelope? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts. You can share them with us in the comments section below.
I do love the “strange alien landscape”! It reminds me of certain walks I’ve taken or views along foggy ocean coasts.
I know an artist who sells a lot of those blue landscapes (not all in blue) through a gift shop. This is the time of year when i too go through that aging inventory and tinker around on some of them or just gesso and reuse the canvas. Thank you for a good article.
Thank you for sharing. I liked the alien landscape and others. Thank you for the reminder that I won’t always like everything I create. But what is important is to keep creating.
Thanks for your comments! I, too, go through my work and tinker with the ones I don’t like anymore. My tastes change over time, and work that seemed good at one time may not appeal to me anymore. I sand them down or paint over them, and often that produces work that’s more interesting . . . for now!