Erika Allison's Artastic Blog

I woke up thinking about this painting I did at the end of 2009.  It has been titled and shown already.  But, I’m still thinking about it.  It’s not truly finished.  It’s missing something.  I think I realized that all along.  And, yet, for some reason, I showed it anyway.  Shame on me!

The painting, “Don’t Suck Me In”, is missing pizzaz, the final touch.  It needs that one more thing.  I remember thinking about it as I was “finishing” it.  I just never came up with what that one final touch should be.  There are so many options at this point in a painting.  That final touch could be a paintstroke, a mark of some kind, a found object…  The hard part is figuring out which option will be the coup de grace.  It’s a critical time in the process of making a piece of art.  Is that last touch the coup de grace or the disastrous mark that makes the work OVER worked?  It is critical that an artist knows when a work is done.

Many times I have made my final mark and been so pleased with myself.  Aha!  The perfect mark that adds just what was needed.  Without that mark, the painting just isn’t finished.  Then, it seems that I will forever remember that final touch that made a particular painting.  Maybe I even get a little too impressed with myself!

Well, I would like to find that perfect mark right about now!  I could use something to gloat over.  The truth is, I’m struggling with this one.  Like I said, I actually woke up thinking about this.  That’s a good start.  I  had the idea of what to do next.  And so….I headed into the studio right after getting the coffee brewing.  The idea I had come up with had many possibilities, as usual.  Now, it’s time to pick one and JUST DO IT!  And, so I did.  I did not have to change the title of the painting.  I have perhaps added some depth to the meaning.  We’ll see.

I’m still not certain that it’s finished.  I will keep it up on the easel and pop in and study it.  At some point I will decide that I’ve come up with a good finish…or not.

“Don’t Suck Me In”, 25″x31″x2″, is still in progress.  The painting posted is the “Before” version.  I never understood why artists sometimes dated their work to include more than one year.  I’d think – it took that long?!  Now, I get it.  I will have to add 2010 to the date on the back.  It says 2009.  So, now, it will read 2009/2010.  It didn’t really take me 2 years.  Well, I’m not done yet.  Who knows?

I will photograph the work and post my progress in another post.  Who knows how long this might go on?

“Candle in the Wind”

I feel like I’m winding down from 2009 and revving up for 2010 all at the same time. To me, it’s a continuation. There really is no “end” or “beginning”. I guess our thinking about it in those terms allows us to “end” whatever went wrong/didn’t work out and “begin” anew. I guess I can buy that. But, I never make new year’s resolutions. It’s too depressing to find that I can’t keep promises I made to myself. It’s putting additional pressure on. I think I have some built-in resolutions: keep learning, keep experimenting, keep creating. That’s what it’s all about for me.

I can’t say I wouldn’t like some improvements in the new year. I’ve always thought of myself as prolific. Yet, I haven’t produced much in 2009. I’ve let things get in the way. Have to change that! And, I’d like to keep learning more about using my computer. I need to know!

I remember to pat myself on the back for some accomplishments in 2009 as well. I’m liking where I am in my work right now. I’ve shown my work a couple of times. I HAVE learned some high-tech stuff (although I have a lot more to learn). So, I have high expectations for 2010. And, I intend to do my part in realizing some good things.

I think I’ll have a glass of wine and watch some New Year’s fireworks from my yard (I should be able to see the fireworks on the Las Vegas Strip) to bring in the new year. And, tomorrow, I’ll start a new painting.