100 Canvases: Canvas #37 (#7 Transformed)

You've already seen this painting.  I shared it two weeks ago.

But did you know that you also saw it back in 2013?

Say, what?

Yep, back in 2013 I shared this finished painting:

I expressed my ambivalent feelings about the painting when I posted it.  It was one of those painting that never got hung up on my walls because I just didn't love it. It sat in a pile of finished but unloved paintings for the last four years.  Then I decided to give it a makeover.

I flipped the old version of the painting upside down in the side-by-side comparison above so that you can more easily see the old painting under the new one.  Pretty amazing transformation, right?

Some lessons I'm taking away from this experience:

• Time is an important tool.  Four years is, perhaps, an absurd amount of time to work on a painting.  But, by having that gap I was able to see past my original intentions and bring something totally new out of the painting.
• No work is wasted.  I still remember posting an art journaling video on YouTube and receiving comments asking why I had done certain things if I was just going to cover them up.  At the time I tried to explain that I don't pre-plan stuff, so sometimes things get covered up as they evolve.  The more experience I gain with painting, the more I'm convinced that these layers make the work look richer.  The painting evolves as my ideas ping off each other and change direction.
• Being a hoarder is a good thing. #jokingnotjoking  Part of the reason that it's difficult to part with things is because, as makers, we do use so many of them!  Eventually.  I'm certainly glad that I didn't trash this canvas.  
• Don't make a snap decision.  I know some people say to gesso over things you don't like, but I have found that giving art time to breathe often allows me to see the possibilities.  More than once I've been caught covering something up that I should have left alone because it was better the next day or the next week.  I guess this is kind of a repeat of bullet #1.  But I think it's worth repeating.  It's so easy to look at something you've created and say, "Ugh.  I don't like it."  Perhaps you'll change your mind tomorrow?  Perhaps the next day a new idea will inspire you?  I think getting frustrated with art is akin to getting mad in an argument. Sometimes it's good to walk away and maintain a cool head, you know?

What are your thoughts on this transformation?

Thanks for stopping by!