Spirit of a Woman

Dec 04, 2018

Welcome fellow art lovers - be well greeted!
"Spirit of a Woman"
The Power Series
She is not your friend, and you have nothing that she needs. She holds your gaze because you stare at her, transfixed by her power, hypnotized by her unapologetic being. She kicks ass and takes names. She is a badass woman.
Spirit of a Woman Original is acrylic paint on stretched gallery canvas.
She is not yet up in the Gallery, and the original has already been spoken for. But before she is wrapped up and shipped out I will get her immortalized (scanned) in order that she be made available to you.
Detail of "Spirit of a Woman"
The curse of Perfection
For many years I struggled to finish my paintings. I knew that once I'd decided they were done, I'd have to look at them and acknowledge that I could do no better.
I wanted each painting to be perfect, and it stiffled me with fear.
Many years would pass before I realized that perfection is an illusion, it does not exist, except maybe in math (like a perfect circle).

Everything else is about perception and perspective, about processes and growth and change. Everything else is life, and life is beautiful and terrible and amazing and boring, but most of all, life is full of colors and shapes, sounds and senses and experiences to which we give value based not on some objective truth about what we behold or experience, but based on who we are.

That is what 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' is all about. Beauty is not objective, factual, rather it is individual, subjective, changing. Just like life itself.
I finally realized that that my art should not be about trying (and failing) to create something that was perfect, but rather I should aim for what was, in my own eyes, beautiful and interesting and worthy.
That I should cast away the shroud of expectations, real or imagined, external or internal, and instead try to express with my art what I see, not only with my eyes, but also with my heart and spirit.
Takeaway Pearl
Don't aim for perfection. Get things done. In the process of completing more and more projects you will find that not only does your toolbox grow to make you better equipped to overcome future challenges, your voice and vision and signature style also emerges, it seems almost of its own volition, and as something better than perfect: Truly your own.
Until next week, all the best!
PS. What do you think? Reach out and let me know.