Last year, I hinted at a little project that I was starting to work on, on the down low, and how much I was looking forward to delving into that project.
I feel that it has been at least six months if not more since I first mentioned my little project, so you would think I would have lots of exciting news to share… right? Well, not exactly.
One afternoon, soon after that little throwaway mention in my email, I decided to dive headfirst into this project setting up my easel, laying down the first layers, flinging paint around, totally confident in my decision to begin this series and feeling excited to keep working on it the next day…. Until the next morning when I walked into the studio, I looked at the painting on my easel and felt nothing but meh.
Meh. Meh is such a great word, and we use it often in my house (How was your day? Meh. Was the movie good? Meh. Do you want bolognese for dinner? Meh)
I love Meh because it covers a whole conversation with just three letters. (“Are you ok? Meh. Meh? Meh. Ok.”) So Meh is great…. Except when it comes to artwork I was super excited about the night before.
MEH. It’s the kiss of death when it comes to a half-finished painting, so of course, I did what those of us in the ‘procrastination’ do best – I ignored it and started a different project.
However, because I am also a sucker for punishment, I did not put that half-finished canvas away in the cupboard. Nope, not me! For six months, that half-finished painting sat on my easel, taunting me, every time I headed into the studio.
(And for all those asking – can a painting really taunt someone? I can tell you the answer is yes, yes it can!)
About a month before this all happened, I couldn’t sleep. This isn’t unusual or even out of the ordinary. I’m a terrible sleeper, (and I am not sure my family appreciates how much time I spend late at night worrying about them), so instead of tossing and turning like I usually would, I sat in my dark studio to clear my mind.
Shining through the window was a big, fat, full moon. And I thought about how pretty our little part of the world looked in the moonlight, and how much I would love to try and paint it, and that is when I came up with the idea of a moonscape collection.
I wanted to create a collection of moonscapes, that celebrate my love of whimsy, the moon and all the beauty hidden in the dark.
But that painting on the easel made me doubt my decision – maybe I wasn’t ready, maybe I didn’t have the skill, maybe I didn’t really want to paint the collection, maybe this was a stupid idea and I should stick with what I did best.
It took six months for me to stop listening to my evil empress, put on my big girl pants and make a decision to either paint over the top or try to salvage the original painting.
As I covered the oranges and pinks with dark blues and teals, I knew I had made the right decision to paint over it rather than try and work on the old one. And as the days progressed, I fell more and more into this painting.
And as it sat on my easel, finished, instead of taunting me, I would occasionally catch it out the corner of my eye, and think – I did that. Not a Meh insight.
I am very excited to see where this little project will take me, not only because I am absolutely in love with the painting that appeared in front of me, but also because I have some sketches that have been calling to me for six months that I want to lay down on the canvas as soon as I can.
And I hope that you’ll enjoy the new collection, and particularly this new painting ‘Midnight Magic’
Let me know what you think of my newest moonscape painting in the comments below
