Rescue Me

Art is not magic. It is not always easy. And it is not always pretty. In the fiber arts world there is a term called a UFO, an Unfinished Object. You go so far on a piece and realize you are just going down a rabbit hole of regret, then throw it aside in frustration. We've all been there. We've also calculated the hours spent, the supplies wasted ($$$), the difficulty in admitting defeat.

But wait. Sometimes an artwork will languish in its corner of failure until one day you look at it with new eyes and think, hmmmmm, maybe there's hope.

Take this painting. It was a part of a series of abstracts I did in a fit of energy last month, but this one just looked like a chaotic mess, and not even a De Kooning chaotic mess.

But I loved the layers and textures, and exuberant colours, so in a hopeful moment I thought "let's put a fox on it!"  So I did.

Below are the steps I went through this morning. You may think I should have stopped at step 1,2, or 3. But no, I kept going all the way to step 5. Now I have to mull on it. Mulling is an important part of the process.

Step 2-add outline of fox

Step 3-add features and shading. Front paw is too fat.

Step 4- more fur. The eyes are looking scary. Paw is still fat.

Step 5- Get it together.

So, a bit more to refine and work on (I'm talking to you, paws. And maybe the snoot) but at least that canvas isn't languishing in the corner anymore. Now to tackle all those other UFOs.

P.S. I did more.  Tweeked paws. Called it Pause. Sort of an inside joke with myself. Mulling begins again.