Comments on: Present Imperfect http://alisonjardine.com/2010/06/present-imperfect/ Contemporary Visual Artist Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:18:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Alison http://alisonjardine.com/2010/06/present-imperfect/comment-page-1/#comment-1048 Alison Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:13:23 +0000 http://alisonjardine.com/?p=1353#comment-1048 Thanks for your comment Miriam. For me, this one had reached a point where I couldn't correct its faults without the surface becoming compromised. There was too much going on in it and the 'business' interfered with the larger composition, keeping your eye 'static' when you looked at it in certain places. I care a great deal about a simple, carefully elegant overall composition, and I felt I'd over worked it. The branches competed with the leaves in the background, which in turn competed with the sky. It is a flaw in me perhaps that I lost my temper with it, and, instead of setting it aside, I destroyed it. But then, canvasses that didn't work are like corpses when I keep them in studio - I'd really rather bury them, grieve and move on. Overly dramatic comparison, perhaps... ! Thanks for your comment Miriam. For me, this one had reached a point where I couldn’t correct its faults without the surface becoming compromised. There was too much going on in it and the ‘business’ interfered with the larger composition, keeping your eye ‘static’ when you looked at it in certain places. I care a great deal about a simple, carefully elegant overall composition, and I felt I’d over worked it. The branches competed with the leaves in the background, which in turn competed with the sky.

It is a flaw in me perhaps that I lost my temper with it, and, instead of setting it aside, I destroyed it. But then, canvasses that didn’t work are like corpses when I keep them in studio – I’d really rather bury them, grieve and move on. Overly dramatic comparison, perhaps… !

]]> By: Miriam Climenhaga http://alisonjardine.com/2010/06/present-imperfect/comment-page-1/#comment-1047 Miriam Climenhaga Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:58:01 +0000 http://alisonjardine.com/?p=1353#comment-1047 So interesting. As I have been "getting to know you" recently I am fascinated with how different our approaches are to painting, yet somewhat the same. I can definitely understand perfectionism in that you, as an artist, know when something just isn't quite right. I keep painting over things though...I wonder if I should attempt to scrap? I would think it might be quite freeing? From the viewpoint of just an appreciator of art though, I have to say that I really liked that painting before you scrapped it! Truly! It makes me curious what didn't go right for you in it, but I know from personal experience, that THAT can be almost impossible to explain. You just know. So interesting. As I have been “getting to know you” recently I am fascinated with how different our approaches are to painting, yet somewhat the same. I can definitely understand perfectionism in that you, as an artist, know when something just isn’t quite right. I keep painting over things though…I wonder if I should attempt to scrap? I would think it might be quite freeing? From the viewpoint of just an appreciator of art though, I have to say that I really liked that painting before you scrapped it! Truly! It makes me curious what didn’t go right for you in it, but I know from personal experience, that THAT can be almost impossible to explain. You just know.

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