something finished

I decided that since I will be posting a lot of half-finished works I should post something that is completed too. That way I can feel like there are a few more paintings in the done pile and I can demonstrate that, yes, I can finish these projects. Going on like this makes it sound like I don't finish anything, but truly, I do. Mostly I keep a project alive when I have no deadline and I can experiment and push it a little bit farther. I have a painting I'm working on now that is very close to completion and I've decided that what it really needs is some wax — something I've never worked with — because I want elements of the painting to have a subdued and washed-out look. I also find it hard sometimes to get in the mind-frame of painting. Going from my day job as a graphic designer I sometimes find myself sitting in front of my painting thinking in Photoshop keyboard shortcuts "command + z, command +z!!" Maybe that's also a sign that I spend too much time in front of computers.

Anyway, here is a completed painting from last year. It was commissioned by my husband for some album artwork (for his folksy acoustic band). I made the support myself — it's 4 ft by 2 ft mahogany with a pine cradle — a project in and of itself. Since it was just for my husband, the handiwork is a little less than stellar in the construction of the frame. It was a learning experience. When I do commissioned work I order the best materials and frankly, it's not really worth the headache for me to build up the whole support from scratch just because of the time it takes and my carpentry well...leaves some to be desired. It is really sturdy though and I worked on it for a couple of weeks before I started painting: building, sanding, prepping. It was a long process. It's now hanging in my husband's jam space since we didn't really have anywhere else to hang it and I would probably sell it but for much less than I would normally for a painting of this size because of the above reasons.

I finished this one rather quickly because I did have a deadline so there are some things I would have fixed had I had more time.