Moments of attachment

Picasso said that when you fall in love with a certain part of the painting, paint over it. This comment annoyed me so much over the years, since in most cases it is true!

Often we fall in love with a spontaneous moment that has happened on the canvass. Then we are so caught in the beauty of it, that we get attached to it and it starts dominating every decision we make. Sometimes this area of painting becomes the only part that, in fact, does not work with the whole, but we are so attached that we stall. Our perspective of the whole becomes warped, and we greedily see only this moment of genius that has to be maintained at all costs.

I have some paintings in my studio that has stood there for more than a year now, and I just can't gather the courage to go ahead and paint over the under painting. There is something in it and I do not want to loose it.

This is a detail of a new work, I started yesterday. I had this lovely blue canvass for a year now. I painted the background over and over mainly with precious cobalt blue pigment, and then the expense and beauty of this background overwhelmed me. I just did not know where to start.

It seems that the arrival of the new creative cycle with the new moon has pushed me. A feeling of just biting on your teeth and pushing forward over what you have loved for so long, in order to keep moving, and to keep expanding into the whole. Knowing that you risk to never see that beautiful pristine background again, but maybe it will bring you someplace new.