“This seems to me how I work, once I’ve started in a place I don’t find I want to move because I’m trying to do something and you’re never really satisfied with what you’re doing so you keep on trying and the more you try the more you keep on thinking of new ways of doing the particular subject and so you just go on and on.
“You might even turn round in the middle of doing a certain painting and you see something else, so, you run back and get another canvas and try and do that, but it’s still the same spot, really, and it’s probably the same feeling you are trying to grasp.”
Joan Eardley, Arts Council interview 1961 (quoted in “Joan Eardley: A Sense of Place” by Patrick Elliott)
If you’re stuck for what to paint, have another go at something you’ve painted before, perhaps a subject you haven’t painted for a while or a painting where you feel you didn’t quite do the subject justice. I’d avoid putting up the first version where you can see it as you paint so you’re not constantly comparing. Look at it, think about what you like and don’t, then put it aside and don’t peak at it again until you’ve finished your new painting.
I like this very much! I’ve done every subject I that appealed and some that didn’t, and I have many paintings I like. Those I didn’t like were done, until they worked. There are also many that I don’t dislike enough to discard, and am endeared to parts where I can see a bit of growth on my part, or a time of passion where a well intended stroke turned into something else to fix and got shelved. I can envision going back to them on a new canvas.or the old one. I just can’t leave the idea behind. I really appreciate your blog, Marion!