1000 Paintings

I like to play “what if” games with myself. I spend a lot of time overthinking things. Take those two facts together and that is how I began playing “what if I can only paint 1000 more paintings before I die”. What would I really want to make sure I painted?

So recently I looked through my last ten years of reference photos and started to make lists of things I wanted to paint. I also made a list of subjects I have thought about painting but don’t even have photos of. Then I looked at paintings I have done, whether sold or still “in the collection of the artist” and assessed them. The questions I asked myself were “Do I want to repaint this now that I am better technically able?, “Would this painting inspire me to do a series?”, “Do I love the painting?”, “Should I burn this painting?” and so on.

The questions I did not ask were “Will this sell?” or “If I paint this then what will I do with it?” I guess I’ve come far enough along that road that I trust those questions are in a higher power’s hands. I always keep in mind that God has those things under control, my job is to do the work and recognize the opportunities when they come up and act on them.

An interesting thing came to light for me as I did this evaluation process. On the one hand, were my commission pieces that I work on in the studio for several hours and by definition are sold before I begin. On the other hand, I realized that the rest of my output was being accomplished  in a rather slap dash manner.

I tended to go to plein air with a group to sites that were chosen more for convenience of a group consensus than someplace I was passionate about painting. I would arrive on location, look around and paint what was presented. Now this can be a great creative exercise added to a regular studio painting schedule. I love  that challenge and I love the social aspect of the group, and I will always go to the outings, but on a more restricted basis.  I have decided it is time to really focus on the paintings I have more thoughtfully  chosen to do.

Since then, I think my work has improved and I feel much happier with my progress than I have for some time now and the work has been selling. I am getting old enough to realize that I only have a limited amount of time left (hopefully  long enough to do 1000 + paintings ) but I want to make sure that I am using my time as deliberately as possible.