Friday, March 16, 2007

Have you ever...

...wished you had left well enough alone?

Yep, I see your heads shaking out there in cyberland! Well I had one of those moments yesterday and yes I could pretend it didn't happen, but I wanted to share this with you all because I know that I'm not the only one that has had this happen. It also goes along with a post I made on a list this morning where I was saying that so often we view other artist's work (especially when your a tender new artist) and you compare your art with theirs and it leaves you thinking your art isn't good enough! Try not to compare your art, we are all on different art journeys which means we are also at different art levels. Art is in the eye of the beholder and what may appeal to one person may not to another that doesn't make it any less art. Also, keep in mind that most times we only see the "WOW" pieces that an artist will post and that leaves us with the impression that each and every piece is a "WOW" piece when in actuality they are not or it could be that others think it is but for you as the artist it didn't reach the vision you had or the expectations you wanted to achieve....We tend to want each piece to be a "WOW" piece. Try focusing more on the creative process (read my friend Joanne Huffman's thoughts on this and her beautiful art!) and less on the out come and enjoy the creative journey your art takes you on and learn from and enjoy the experience!

Okay I've stalled long enough here's what happened...

My challenge piece I posted previously I wished I hadn't messed with...yep I made a mess (don't worry Patty I have other choices for you!) I went to seal it and decided to use gel medium to give the piece a bit more substance so I grabbed the gel medium but should have just used the spray sealer so it didn't get so wet because it buckled in some areas and accentuated some seams...well in my eagerness to fix it I then used a heavy glaze spray thinking that would cover it up well it didn't...so then I thought well I'll use some crackle glaze that will hide it, NOT! it was too thick and it made the piece very opaque and now you can't see the words I even used! Will I leave well enough alone another time? Of course not *chuckles* because many times some of the best happy accidents come from one of those moments that we might never have discovered, this just happened not to be one of those moments *sheepish grin* I certainly did learn from the process and my hope is that my experience will help others see that your not alone. It happens to us all at one time or another and its okay!

Boy do I feel naked now :::grabs her clothes and puts them back on::::
Okay I was asked to post my mishap so here it is
(scroll down further to see the before piece)




Okay now go

make some

art &

let me know

your thoughts

on this :-)

9 comments:

  1. It's so funny that you and Joanne have been pondering this lately. So have others! I read Robert Genn's twice weekly letter on observations about living a creative life. (See www.painterskeys.com.) He talked about this very thing yesterday.

    My own thoughts are too wordy for a comment, so I am blogging them. http://www.mydapperdog.com/blog/

    I think that there is great value in a well-known artist such as yourself admitting that you do this. We ALL do it! But I think that admitting it is something else. And it's good to do because it reminds us that we have better work ahead and it encourages all of us to be honest about our work as well as encouraging less experienced artists.

    So much for the short version!!!

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  2. So where is this piece you speak so fondly of? I have done something so very similar so many times and get so frustrated with myself and I am no where near the caliber of an artist. I am totally a wannabe. I do follow your experiements, projects, musings religiously. You inspire me. Such as you have done just now. However. Where is this art that you speak of? If we all decided to post the art we personally were not proud of, I know it will inspire those that fear to fail to try and try again. I am the Biggest One Of Those. I am fearful of posting anything that doesn't look stellar. And I struggle struggle struggle!

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  3. Aileen, all of us do this. Sometimes I keep my "should have left this alone" mishaps and they become backgrounds or get cut up and put in something else. Sometimes, I just dump them.
    Joanne

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  4. I think it's even better than before..looks like it was "supose" to be like that.

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  5. I love your mishap. It looks very textured and the muted colors are gorgeous. I know you lost a lot of the original deatail, but this one is fantastic!

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  6. Well, I like your mistake better but that's me. I like that crackled look.

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  7. Actually, I think this is a neat look ... very ghostly, but I'm sure it looks quite differnet in reality than on a web page. I wish I could say this never happend to me, but I'd be a liar LOL One time I messed up a bingo card. I kept cutting it down to get out the yucky parts ... when I was done it was half an ATC LOL

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  8. I think we all have pieces that we didn't leave well enough alone. I did a quilling gift tag that I spent a lot of time on. I wanted a little more from it so I began painting the background, and the quills got wet and started unravelling! hehe. Oh well. Live and learn.

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