Fruit and Flowers (original version)

Fruit and Flowers (revised version)

24 x 30   Oil on Linen

It doesn't always come out right. You have something to say, something to express, but there are times when you’re not understood. No matter how hard you work to be clear you just can't find the right words, the right phrase, the right color, the right brushwork. You do your best, you finish the piece and send it out into the world. The thought, the idea, the concept you want to get across is out there for the world to see but no one responds. You try it in another venue, and then another, but there’s still no response. In time the piece returns to you. You look, you listen, you read the piece for hours on end. Finally you begin to edit, to rewrite, to repaint, to simplify, bring out subtleties, create more harmony, more luminosity, add depth and richness. You find a way to build character and breathe life into your work. Sometimes it comes easily, other times you have to work long and hard to say what you want to say.  Fruit and Flowers didn't come out quite right at first. Now, after being lovingly reworked, it is ready to go back out into the world again. Ready to speak, to be understood, to get a response.....

(click on the image to get a larger view where you can get a better sense of how the painting changed)