Jazz Legends | Lena Horne

"Legends | Lena Horne", 16x20" Acrylic on Canvas. Prints available.

Number 11. Oh so close to finished. I hate to say that I'm anxious to finish up this series, but really, I am. My attention has been pulled in a different direction, and painting these is beginning to feel like a bit of a chore. Not that I don't enjoy it once I get going, because I do... but I have to admit that getting started is becoming difficult.

A complete Lena with the face blocked
out.... lovely, isn't it?

Finishing what I've started has been a life long problem for me. That's why when I start a series I don't usually set myself a number of pieces that I want to complete. I just get going, and when I'm done, I'm done. This project was different... it was suggested that I could use the images in a new calendar, and to do that I have to complete 12. Unfortunately, that calendar isn't going to be 2016. I would have to have had the files to the printer already, and given that I'm not actually finished the paintings yet, that hasn't happened. C'est la vie. This particular piece was a bit of a problem for me. I actually finished it once... then decided that although the painting itself wasn't horrible, it didn't actually look like her. So I painted it over and did it again. That was a tough call so near the end of the series. But ultimately, I didn't want to let it go when I wasn't happy with it. It would bug me every time I saw it.

I have a few other unfinished projects hanging around that I really need to get done. Sometimes they just take forever... and as much as I hate to admit it, my short attention span makes things worse. I get bored and want to move on to something more fun. Working out a visual problem can be called a lot of things, but fun usually isn't on the list. Then there's all the other stuff that has to get done but is definitely not fun. Anti-fun even. Matting and framing, entering stuff into my inventory, doing paperwork.... ugh. I've been doing better lately.... working through my pile of small abstracts and finishing up the bits and pieces hanging around my studio. I'm hopeful that by the end of the year I'll be ready to move on to a few new things without the baggage of uncompleted work weighing on me. Artist Crystal Moody has started this great thing called "Finish it Friday" . Every Friday she makes a list and finishes a project or two. She wires, frames, varnishes, files... all those little undone things that pile up and make prepping for a show absolute hell, because you haven't touched it since the last show.  This week I took a page from her book and not only finished this piece, but wired and varnished a bunch of other pieces. It feels good to know I won't have to do it later. In fact, I think maybe I'll do it again next Friday.