The Easel of Shame

My top 7 excuses for not finishing my art projects.

Do you have your unfinished projects right out in the open, or are you more of a "shove it in the back of the closet" type of project abandoner?

The Easel of Shame.

Apparently I like to leave my unfinished things out in the open, where they can confront me daily. Because hey, that way I can crank up the anxiety and self-loathing as much as possible.
So, what causes a project we were once so passionate about to wind up in the "unfinished" pile?
Here are my top 7 excuses.

1. I Didn't have a Plan.  I'm looking at YOU, lady-with-ocean-wave-hair-that-I-still-plan-to-paint-an-underwater-scene-inside-of-someday (see photo above). She started out as a sort of underpainting technique experiment, but then I really liked her face and wanted to make something more of it. Normally, by the time I get to painting something in oil I have already done a detailed drawing and possibly a watercolor study to test out the colors I plan to use. Soooo...she has been staring at me every day for over two years now. Yep. We're like this. *shows two crossed fingers but points to the thumb*
   
2. I Saw Something Shiny.  When I learn a new technique or am taken with a new concept I want to paint, I get stupidly excited and have to dive into the new thing at the earliest opportunity. If that distraction turns into a larger project, it can easily derail me for days or even weeks. I try not to be flighty, but sometimes you have to go with the flow.
3. I Had to Work. Commissions, gallery commitments, scheduled shows and mandatory business paperwork/operations all have to take precedence over exploratory artwork, so those types of projects often keep getting bumped to the bottom of the ever-growing to-do list.
4. I Rage Quit.  Even I am not sick enough to put a project that I actually rage quit on permanent display, so you won't find one of those on my easel of shame. In fact, you won't find one of those at all. There is nothing quite like tearing an abject failure up into tiny little bits and then jumping up and down on them until they've had enough. Or maybe just watching them burn away to nothing, all proof of defeat evaporating in a puff of smoke.
5. I'm Not Good Enough to Finish It/I'll Ruin It.  Sometimes that's just the demons speaking, but sometimes when I try to lay out a new concept I find that I simply don't have the necessary skills yet to make it all happen the way I want it to. I reached just a little too far this time. And hey, that's ok. It just means I need more study, and I really don't hate the studying thing. I can always (theoretically, haha) go back and try again later after more research and practice.
6. It's Taking Too Long!  Ah, patience. As Aristotle said, “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” I clearly remember a time when I found the idea of a painting taking more than a couple of days appalling. I'd get frustrated as hell just thinking about it! Now I can work on a painting for months, as long as I also have some smaller things going simultaneously to give me a breather now and then. Occasionally I do still get overwhelmed, though, and will have to put a temporary hold on it until I can get my shit together again.
7. I Kind of Like it That Way. I'm looking at you AGAIN, Ocean Hair Lady. You look incomplete, unfinished, vulnerable, exposed. I can actually really relate to that state of being. I can see what you are truly made of, and that's kind of cool, too. So maybe don't change, Ocean Lady. Maybe I should just let you be yourself and see how that goes. Nobody's perfect, right?

Pictured above is the easel containing my currently developing body of work. While there have definitely been some delays in the production (see excuse #3) of this expanding statement on living with mental illness, I have not given up on any of these pieces in progress and have several more in the series that are waiting to be painted and drawn. Some of them are already available as prints, like Insomnia and The Watchers.
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