Art is almost done for the Countryside Artisan Spring Studio Tour

Spring buds are bursting, the gardens are almost cleaned up, and the art is trying to move off the easel and into a frame.  I love this time of year outside, but I am inside many days trying to finish art for my open studio next week.  This drawing is a good example of how I spend my days.  He has been on the easel and then put away in my flat file before.  But this time I am determined to capture the view on West Harris Road, when you round a hill and there on the horizon is a beautiful horse peacefully eating the grass.

Art is a process I know, however I am just as impatient as I was when I started all those years ago.  I have several new pieces of art in process and they are destined to hang on my studio wall next weekend for the Spring Studio Tour.   Challenges are abundant when making art, and one of the hardest questions to answer: Is this art done?  Have I resolved the issues and found the spirit of this painting/drawing?

When one of my seasonal studio tours is upon me, the questions keep coming and it is difficult to know whether the work is done.   I try to slow my mind down and look closely, I move around the house and come upon the art by surprise to see what my reaction is to the drawing.  Sometimes this helps to focus my mind and ‘eye’.

Often the process is like the rest of life, when you want to be done and move on to something new, but a commitment is changing the experience.  Hoping to use this time to sign off on new art that has been on the easel for a while, even as I step back and question each piece.  Is it done?  Where is my eye led?  How do the colors and textures speak to each othe?

Making art most days, asking good questions, and hoping the art is speaking to me and my studio visitors next week.