“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Anais Nin
I have been to the Houston Arboretum to paint many times. I usually paint the lily pond, or a stand of trees. I walked around with my sketchbook and made three little sketches, trying to decide what to paint. This fallen tree was the most difficult of the three scenes I was considering.
I honestly didn’t think I was going to be able to paint this scene but I didn’t want to paint that lily pond. Again. The alternative was to try something new and challenging and to learn. So I risked failing at this painting (in fact, was pretty sure I would fail) and in the end was reminded to take more chances with my art.
Sometimes I want to paint a “safe” painting. After a couple of failures or when my little art ego needs a boost, then I paint something I know I can paint successfully. I tell myself I am learning just by mixing and applying paint to the canvas, but to really learn I need to try new things by risking failure. Maybe that’s a more complicated composition, or a larger canvas, it’s a million things and they change daily! If we don’t push ourselves as artists, and yes, risk failure, we’ll never grow.
Well done, Joan. I’ve been so impressed with your work and have really enjoyed your travels too.
Keep pushing forward, taking risks. You never know how experimental and free you can get until you take the leap, right?!
Best wishes always.
Thoughtful post (as always) GORGEOUS painting!!!!
Congrats on meeting your own challenge!… Well done!!!
Wow, Joan, What a great painting this turned out to be.
I guess I would have wondered if I could make the tree drop down as it moved away in the picture plane. Looks like a success to me.
A very inspirational post, Joan. Something I needed to hear right now. And your painting is beautiful.
Making the old branch the focal point and not the lily pond, was a very good idea, Joan!
So well done! A wonderful painting.
Joan, I know for sure this is a very difficult painting, because I tried to paint ( in watercolor) a fallen tree some time ago. I tried and tried but totally failed every time, and I don’t think I am ready to try again yet! You didn’t fail, the painting is beautiful, and knowing the difficulty..congratulations!