The other side of the blank canvas syndrome is the When is a painting finished question.

 

Today I bring you a creation that I started some time ago and have worked on, on and off, over the last few months. It’s one of those really exploratory pieces I’ve been doing, ones where I apply paint and then see where the image takes me, trusting in the process itself with my inner guide responding, together taking the artwork to a conclusion. One of the most difficult things with a painting like this, actually with any painting, is knowing when it’s finished. Questions arise like, Have I gone far enough? or worse perhaps, Have I gone too far? The explosive energy at the start of a piece is balanced out by the small incremental changes I make, by the pondering it takes to decide when to sign a painting and let it out into the world.

 

I recently found an unexpected way to help me answer the question of when is a painting finished.

 

I always let a painting ‘rest’ in the studio before deciding to do more to it but what I had never done before is hang it in my living space. I had reason to do this for the Fernwood Art Stroll in June (read my blog about the Stroll here), hanging paintings, mostly finished, all over the living room wall. I realized the next day that by doing this, a certain detachment from the painting begins to occur, it is now seen through my eyes as a viewer, not as the painter. I could ‘see’ that some works I thought were nearing completion instead still had much to be done whereas others, like the one I will show you below, said, I am done, I ask no more of you, the conversation is now finished.

 

So here’s the process – start to finish.

 

 

 

 

Here’s a closeup:

 

And to finish (hah hah), here are a few quotes related to the question, When is a painting finished?

 

Experimentalists never know when their work is finished.

~ Daniel H. Pink

 

Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them.

~ Joseph Joubert  (he had some other really great quotes! – click on his name to see some)

 

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

While adding the finishing touches to a painting might appear insignificant, it is much harder to do than one might suppose…

~ Claude Monet

 

A painting is finished when to have done less would be considered a sin and more a crime.

~ Ted Godwin

 

A picture is finished when all trace of the means used to bring about the end has disappeared.

~ James McNeil Whistler

 

A painting is finished when the artist says it is finished.

~ Rembrandt

 

 

I’d love to hear what you think of my new piece. Any ideas for a title??

Also, I’d appreciate your thoughts about the question, When is a painting finished?

 

 

That’s all I have for now. Thanks for reading and sharing!!

~ Gail