Let it be...

"What I love most about painting abstract is it's innate problem solving nature and the challenge of making reactionary decisions in hopes to achieve a little slice of beauty." - Britt Bass Turner

When I saw this quote late last week from a painter in the Atlanta area that I love (check her out at www.brittbass.com) it was like a big, ole sledge hammer that hit me right over the head. I'm going to be honest, I have wondered just what it is in the process of painting abstract that I love. I can name a few things but this... this was it.

You see, I'm naturally one of those people that can see what's broken - in business, in plans, in strategy. I see gaps, connecting points, a really big spider web of how everything fits together and when there is a hole, I see it. But its truly not in a negative way (even tho it can be perceived that way at times) - it is all in service to make things better; to make things beautiful; to help someone get that much closer to what they want, desire, that big great outcome they are looking for.

These two paintings were a testament to that. I'm new to this whole thing and I decided I wanted to make two pieces that would work together. So I set out - no plan - allowing the whole thing to be as organic as possible. I kept adding and adding (activating the canvas is what they say in the art world) and I hated them. So much so that I nearly threw them in the trash.

I left them for weeks and weeks and weeks... never having the guts to toss them.

And then after a little time - and a little inspiration - I came back ready to "solve the problem." I let go of them being a pair. I tried a few different techniques and got two very different results.

Results that I loved.

I'm learning that there are a lot of things that we need to start. We need to activate the canvas and then we need to let it be - give it a chance - give it some time - go gain some perspective and come back when we are ready to take a stab at it again. We just may find that something really beautiful comes out of letting things be while in process.