We’ve all been there. Standing in the studio staring at a painting that offers no end of problems. It starts off fun , we fling the paint around, dance and sing, don’t think too much, add this and that, try a new tool and a few new colours.

The surface builds up and we start to see some yummy texture happen – the dancing and jigging becomes a little more energetic. Hope is building too, it’s all going swimmingly well and we finish for the day. (We all have to eat… and there is a life of demands that have to somehow be scheduled. Laundry… grocery shopping…. Kids to be taken to music and drama… goats to be loved. You don’t have goats?)

Anyway, while we busily fill the rest of the day with the mundane and necessary, we have a little place in our head that is mulling over the artwork quietly waiting our return. What’s next? I wonder what it’ll become… A present to be unwrapped and discovered. It’s a little secret smile on the inside as we fold the undies and clean the loo.

The next day we leap out of bed – well, honestly it’s more of a slide and heave. But we’re vertical and after a coffee, bit of brekkie, a trip to goaties to deliver their morning banana skins and apple cores… we make our way eagerly to the studio to resume the unpacking of our promising panel.

We run our hands over it and examine that yummy texture and marks that got us hopping yesterday. Lovely… ooh, how did I do that? Now what? What shall I do now? Now what should I do? Um… how about … no, that will be too messy. I wish I’d done that bit bigger… imagine if the painting was just that lovely bit there. It’s kind of in the wrong place – too much near the edge. What should I do with the rest of the painting? I don’t want to ruin this lovely part….

I love this area – it’s precious.

BAM!! Right there – we’re in precious-land!! Suddenly we’re living on a knife-edge, the stakes are high. One wrong move and it’s all over. Fear creeps in and the necessity to think hard before every step. This is no time to glibly ‘try’ things – we have to THINK - delve deep into what we know. Out comes the colour wheel and the swatches. Scrap bits of paper to try things out. More scraps of paper to cover areas of the panel to see what it would look like if….

Progress slows, there can be no distractions as this puzzle must be solved. We need to navigate out of precious-land and back to the land of the free-flingers who live with hope and rest easy. Time eeks by, blood-sugars ebb and there we stand still frowning 3 hours in, still poking precariously at the blessed panel trying to unearth its’ soul.

Finally, the insistent call of the outside world drags us away and we close the studio door on that tangled grid-locked mess of paint, hope, and self-belief.

As we square up to the dishwasher and the dusting that secret smile is now a nagging sense of dread. Am I good enough? Why can’t I figure this out? I’ve killed my precious ….

The next foray into the studio our step is heavy, but our purpose still strong. We put the precious to one side and try again on a new panel.

This time perhaps… we fling a little less freely knowing this well-trodden path and in fear of its’ destination. We wait for the spark to return, trying desperately to recapture the flow… trying again to figure it out…

STOP RIGHT THERE – I CAN’T GO ON!!

The story is too sad, and way too familiar.

That used to be my experience, but there’s good news folks. IT’S NOT ANYMORE!!

And if it’s your experience it doesn’t need to be…

It was in 2017 that my practice was plagued with doubt and frustration. Now, I live wholly in the land of the free-flingers, dwelling in hope and resting easy. The undies, dishwasher and dust are still very much a reality but I’ve discovered their call can be answered by others and it does them a world of good!

What I’ve also discovered is when you know what to focus on in the development of a painting the path is easy. Knowing what stage you’re at – the Beginning, the messy Middle, the Clarification or the Finishing is so important. Because then you know what you should be paying attention to and which questions you should be asking.

When you have this knowledge aligned with a practice and a head full of hopeful possibilities, you build confidence and THEN your artwork really moves forward.

You jump on the highway to authentic artmaking, bypassing Precious-land and ride the slip-stream of confidence and joy!! Hallejullah!!

Now let’s get practical: If you want the roadmap for that highway you’d better register for my upcoming Webinar where I’ll be uncovering what I know about navigating that journey to finishing work you LOVE.

When you have that roadmap tucked under your arm you might say this:

“Just so you know, your course profoundly changed the course of my artworks journey! I now paint with more confidence, have a distinct style developing and now have great real tools to guide the whole process. I am having a blast and I’m in the best place with my art that I have ever been!

Fix and Finish has been the best course for me, especially at this time in my life and my artworks journey!

A heartfelt thank you!”

This is what Paige wrote yesterday about my course Fix & Finish. If you want to come to the Webinar and find out more of what she learnt sign up here.