Finishing what I started so I can begin again

Before I step into my new life as a full time artist on January 1, 2018, I want to bring closure to the way I’ve been creating art for the past 2 decades.

Up until recently, I created 3-dimensional collages. Each artwork took an average of 12 months to find all the images and assemble, including the one above, “Guidance Surrounds Me”.

Although I loved the process of creating every one of the collages in my “Awakening” and “Magical Bike” collections, I always longed to create faster and more spontaneously, without all the precision and detail of my 3D style.  The idea of creating a collage in a month, or maybe even a week, totally intrigued me. I also longed to add paint to my collages, like one of my all time favorite artists Arless Day, even though I had never picked up a brush in my life!

Then on a whim in 2016, I signed up for two on-line painting classes (perfect for my traveling day-gig), bought a ton of acrylic paint and started experimenting with adding paint to my collages.

From day one I was hooked, and ended up creating a new collection of collage paintings called “Take flight”. In fact, I was so excited about my love affair with paint that I didn’t want to finish all the half-completed 3D collages sitting around my studio.

Until now.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been compelled to finish what I started before I take the next big step in my art career.

So that is exactly what I’m doing – finishing a ton of old projects, and to my surprise, I am having a great time doing it.  Its like connecting with old friends that you haven’t seen in ages, and realizing that you are still good friends in spite of all the time that has passed.

Here is a sampling of the collages that I’ve been finishing in the last 14 days, in preparation for bringing them to the framer, the last stage in their journey to completion.  When I’m finally done, I plan to dive back into creating painted collages, and most likely will not look back, except when I say good bye with gratitude to each of my 3D beauties when they find new homes.

Have YOU ever wanted to finish something in your life, to clean out the old, in order to make room for what you want to bring in new?  Please share either in the comments below or on Instagram, to inspire us all to finish what we started, so that we can begin again!