When starting over is the only option

Last week on Instagram I mentioned in my stories how one of the pieces I'm working on for an upcoming show was kicking my ass. I've just put the final touches on it and thought it would be a good reminder to me, and, hopefully inspirational to you, on how sometimes Starting Over is the only true option. And that's okay!

These works are all on 6 x 6" cradled board. Six are bird themed. I often cover the panels with a mixture of old and new book pages (shiny and not so shiny) so it adds layers before I even start. I'd used a bird as a mask for the gel plate and I kinda liked how it looked with some grungy areas as well as stencils and patterns I'd used for that print.

I wasn't a big fan of the larger words so I used gesso to tone that down. Then I thought it'd be cool to have the bird singing a song with some sheet music I had. There were a couple of iterations but I ended up adding some white pouring medium as well as some stars and it sat there for a week or so.  It was NOT coming together the way I wanted. Further it wasn't telling me (or I couldn't hear) what it needed/wanted next. Which is when I posted about it kicking my ass.

I sanded back the song bubble and then realized, "Yep! The whole thing needed to go." Broke out the palm sander and took it back to the page layers. It felt better already!

I had another gel print of this same bird and cut it out to fit between the stars. Only when it came to adhering it onto the board, I turned it the wrong way gluing it down in the wrong spot. Doh!  As so often happens, serendipitously, I liked it better! Oh! The stars needed reorienting and the background needed finetuning but it was finally coming together, clear messages were being heard.

As an aside... does that sound too WooWoo to you? That the works "speak" to me? Obviously they don't ACTUALLY verbalize their wants and desires. Just my gut ...intuition...Muse...the Universe...experience, however/whatever you want to name it... tells/shows/intuits what my next move should be. Don't knock it until you've tried it. Seriously!

Adjustments were made. Marks were added. And THIS is the final product:

I love it when an artwork comes together!

And if you're still with me (thank you!) I've been thinking of doing another 10 Questions for Artists series in the New Year. If there are questions you'd like to ask me (or other artists), if there is someone you'd love for me to invite to be part of it or if YOU'd like to be part of the series, drop me a comment below or email me. Thanks!!