It's part of my artist discipline I'm trying to cultivate. I'm exploring why some projects are so easy and other projects are like walking through knee deep mud. Reminds me of meditation retreats.
Good description - knee deep mud! I've come to think that for me not all ideas need to be taken to the end. Some need to just be explored until the juice is gone and then dropped. I gauge whether to return to something or to toss it by how much life-force I still have for it. If after a few years and several attempts to return to it, there isn't enough, I just let it go. Sometimes I keep the little testers or sketches around in case it inspires something else, but I seem to have no shortage of ideas so that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. However, having said all of this, I don't think this should be everyone else's method, everyone has their own process and "way". I respect your endeavor of cultivating your artistic discipline, this is really important.
I tend to not finish projects, so like finishing a meditation retreat, my paintings are my meditation. So in meditation you have blissful sits, painful sits, neutral sits. Sitting through all of those feelings brings great equanimity and clarity, that's what I want to feel when painting. For right now I still struggle with the bliss and pain of painting.
It's part of my artist discipline I'm trying to cultivate. I'm exploring why some projects are so easy and other projects are like walking through knee deep mud. Reminds me of meditation retreats.
Good description - knee deep mud! I've come to think that for me not all ideas need to be taken to the end. Some need to just be explored until the juice is gone and then dropped. I gauge whether to return to something or to toss it by how much life-force I still have for it. If after a few years and several attempts to return to it, there isn't enough, I just let it go. Sometimes I keep the little testers or sketches around in case it inspires something else, but I seem to have no shortage of ideas so that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. However, having said all of this, I don't think this should be everyone else's method, everyone has their own process and "way". I respect your endeavor of cultivating your artistic discipline, this is really important.
I tend to not finish projects, so like finishing a meditation retreat, my paintings are my meditation. So in meditation you have blissful sits, painful sits, neutral sits. Sitting through all of those feelings brings great equanimity and clarity, that's what I want to feel when painting. For right now I still struggle with the bliss and pain of painting.
Wonderful point of view!!