I thought it might interest you to see some of the process of this painting. This is one of the few that pretty much is ending up as I originally intended. I have never used mixed media before and thought it would be fun to do so. I made three "quotes":
Did you think I love you because I said I did?
Authenticity is in the eye of the beholder.
If you think this gift is free, you are wrong.
I put them on the board after I had prepared the substrate in places with gesso mixed with pumice for texture and laid out the basic design. Then I worked the color schemes for the regions of the board. Because it is abstract, I turned the board counterclockwise every once in a while to help achieve balance in my painting. (As you can see from the below, I am thinking that it needs to upside down from whence I originally began.) Because the quotes would need to be legible and therefore might be too obvious (due to the white), I needed to have a dramatic focus for the painting and for it to have a movement that would help distract from the white and compliment rather than compete with the quotes. I hope you think I am achieving this because I am nearly finished. Let me know what you think!
​

It is Feb 23 and I am one week into my sabbatical. I call it that because I don't know another shorthand for it. I am taking a break from posting photos of what I am doing and trying not to pay too much attention to what other artists are doing either. But I am returning to basics, meaning I am refocusing on color theory and design concepts. I tend to like closed shapes, which boxes me in too much (so to speak).

Another thing I am doing now is talking to myself and meditating to try to cleanse myself of a couple of worries. First, I note that others frequently do works that are clearly identifiable as theirs, meaning that a lot of what they do looks like variations of the same painting and you know it is "theirs". By contrast, my work is all over the place. I need to get myself to realize that this is what I do and I can't change it, so it is okay. If someone doesn't like that aspect of me, then it is just part of their right to be subjective; it is a given in art that some will like what others don't. The other thing that I need to purge is the thought that fame is the goal. Approval of others is nice, even wonderful, but that cannot be my driver here. I need to accept that it is unlikely that I will get a standing ovation, so I need to do what I do for myself and the muse that sits in judgement.