M. Pia De Girolamo

Trio by M. Pia De Girolamo © Acrylic on board 14" x11".

I recently posed this question to fellow artists on my FB artist page and my Linked In Abstract Painting Group: “When a painting comes together really fast & easily from the beginning, a) do you say a silent ‘thank you’ & stop, b) say ‘too easy’ & keep working on it then and there, or c) put it away & reevaluate later?” Everyone’s responses indicate that this is a familiar experience and a mysterious one (ie. as one person put it "why do some paintings paint themselves and others are more of a struggle?"). It’s been interesting and instructive reading people’s comments on the issue.

When this happens I am alternately overjoyed and a little queasy. The latter feeling is unsettling because I don’t want to appear “ungrateful to the universe” for this gift falling in my lap. And I know that this seeming effortlessness is the result of much cumulative effort and investigation over time. So what's the approach that works for me?

 I will sleep on it. I will place the painting in another room where I have a wall on which I prop up paintings in progress. Sometimes a change of venue changes the way you look at something. I look at the painting along with other paintings. If it can “stand up to them” even in simplicity, it’s done. If it pales in comparison perhaps it is not “done”. I then can see if there’s not enough “there” there.  And I will also ask for opinions from one or two “trusted advisors”. They don’t have to be other artists necessarily. They can be family members (if in general they like your work) and you have given them permission to be “brutally honest”. Ultimately of course the final decision must be yours. If you “ruin” a painting by going back in, chalk it up to experience and learn from it.