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Calculating the Arc (Of Desire)


     Sometimes when I am working on a larger piece I document the process/progress over a period of weeks. I have put in about a dozen sessions so far on this painting and it is almost complete. Some photos of the progress are on my facebook page:
Pat Kelly Studio.
     The process of completing a painting can be overwhelming. At this point so much is at stake. It is important to come up with the right details, edges, and most importantly make sure that the overall composition flows together as seamlessly as possible. Right now I am painting the orange arc segments of six foot circles over the image using a string compass. It’s a little scary. Even scarier though are all the decisions and the slow, careful work that comes at the end.
     Fear is at the root of artists block, and I suspect that is the reason many of us have a hard time finishing a painting: we procrastinate.

     I think of fear as a flaming hoop, like the flaming hoops that a tiger jumps through at the circus. The tiger is trained to overcome its natural fear of fire and jump through. It doesn’t just happen, it’s the discipline from training that enables the tiger to jump through the fire.
     Finishing a painting doesn’t just happen either. It is discipline that gets me through that flaming hoop.