Yesterday was a day of the not so glamorous parts of being an artist. Working on my large art piece, struggling along, I finally decided that three places just weren't right on it, and never would be, and I was starting to dislike the whole thing because of them. I've been fighting with them every time I sat down to work on it. So finally I made the decision to scrap the whole thing and start over. This was NOT an easy decision, and pretty disappointing having already invested 30 hours into it. But I know it's the right way to go. I'm pushing the boundaries on some of the techniques I'm using, and so there is a learning curve involved. I'm just sorry it took me this long to realize that it wasn't going to self-correct.
So in trying not to be bereft of all the time and effort lost on that project, and to be at least a little productive, I set it aside for the time being and started weaving a new basket on a myrtlewood slab. However, the first spokes I used were evidently too small in size for the bending required, and started breaking. THAT was frustrating, as I then had to redrill the base and start over with a little larger spokes. Those are working nicely, but more time was lost. At least I like how this piece is heading.
One bright spot: In the early evening I joined another artist in the village to help set up the next show at the Gallery. I don't have any pieces in it, but rather I volunteered to be a proxy for one of the artists in the show who couldn't be there. Cleaning, moving, hanging, positioning, rearranging - nothing glamorous in any of that, but after two hours it looked wonderful, even if I do say so myself!
It didn't feel like my best day by any means, and certainly not overly fruitful......unless I quote from my husband. When I'm frustrated in the studio and things aren't working, he always reminds me that even that is a success: at least I know what DOESN'T work! Ah me, no one said this would be easy.
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