I was recently asked, When is the art done? And I gave some silly response that had nothing to do with the question.
Maybe if she’d asked, Is the art ever done? I might have answered like this:
No. It’s never done. Not really. Not if the artist uses pigments to tell a story and the lead character is a person, or a flower, or even a lonely pot by a stone wall.
People aren’t done. Flowers aren’t either — whether attached to their roots or cut for a still life portrait. They grow and bloom fully and then wither. Like people.
There’s a reason the old crockery pot sits alone in the sun against a stone wall. Someone put it there… someone else may pick it up and use it in ways it’s never known before.
Good art captures the story of the moment… and allows viewers in to observe, feel, and become a part of that moment. To embrace it as their own, and to imagine what’s next. Or what difference it might make to them.
Good art may begin a story, but more likely will point to a moment in time and allow the viewer to finish it.
…you skip in
to the painting…
get lost in a tale
told with shadows and light…
enriched you move on…
and come back…
Okay. not great poetry, but I hope you see my point.
As a painter there are times I feel my work is ready to frame. That’s because what I saw in my mind’s eye I managed to say on the canvas.
So to answer the original question When is the art done?:
I suppose my painting is done when the story of the moment has been told.
What do you think? Do you have that one painting that is an open-ended story you love to revisit? Do you consider it done?
Thanks so much for coming by and sharing your own tidbits…
Barb
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I think there might be a point at which the artist gets bored, or decides that it’s finished. But I’m not any kind of artist, so I don’t know.
I think that the photograph I take is “done” when I capture what I was aiming to capture, completely in the shot, completely in focus.
Good question. I guess it’s done when you call it quits
J.D. Meier’s last blog post..The 20 Percent Spike
There was a time when I painted. I spent a lot of time at it but I was really never good.
I just was a good student. I had decided that when I signed my painting I would not touch it again, so that was the end of that one.
I have many friends who are poets. They always continue to tweak their poems, even after published. One word change can do a lot to a poem.
I think they want to change it because they realize they are a different person than they were on the day they published the poem.
In my paintings, I wanted them to be the who I was at the time I signed my name.
This surprises me because I am not a great finisher, more of a procrastinator.
Thanks for your posts Barb, I love each of them.
Hi Solomon. Your description of a “done” photograph — the art — is the same as mine with a painting. I’m finished when I’ve captured what I saw and felt, and the painting from across the room tells me so. If I’m bored with it, I put it into the drawer of pieces and parts for another day — collage day.
You are so right, J.D. That’s the kind of answer my husband would give me. And I’d just grin and frame it. (He enjoys reading your blog by the way… just doesn’t comment.) Thanks so much.
Hi Carol! It’s tempting though, isn’t it? To add a brush stroke here or there after signing. I have even framed some oils without signing because I wasn’t absolutely sure! But like you — once the name goes on, I turn my attention elsewhere.
Interesting point about poetry. Yes, one word can make a huge difference — just the emphasis of a syllable can throw off the rhythm. In a painting, if anything consistently draws your eye — from across a room — and it’s the wrong spot to be drawn to, it interrupts.
Thanks so much, Carol.
Tolstoy, also, said he never reread his works because he would then want to make changes to them. I guess this is another way in which art reflects life.
Terro’s last blog post..Uncommon, Common Sense
You always manage to make me think……I love this post, and you know how much I love this painting!
You said, “People aren’t done. Flowers aren’t either — whether attached to their roots or cut for a still life portrait. They grow and bloom fully and then wither. Like people.” Change is inevitable…and interesting. Perhaps that’s why I like to paint portraits so much……when they’re finally done, they record that person at that time of life. And later I can paint her at another stage….and another, and so on, each painting considered “done”. It’s interesting to look back at the “history” of a person’s aging process, especially if I can start when they’re infants.
Like I said, you always make me think, dear sister……thank you!
Is art a single item or a feeling? I can take a photo, know it’s done, and move on to the next shot. However, the art moves with me for each shot, so to me, art isn’t so much about one piece, but about generating a feeling.
LisaNewton’s last blog post..The Los Angeles Metro Subway
I rarely can edit on the same day I write; then must set time limits on the editing or I just keep tweaking and changing and – it goes on.
I find when I am writing the technical blog – short quick and fast posts, I have no art – just the facts – bare foundations…and I am done,edited and posted in just a few short minutes. It was never in my minds eye.
The other words are about getting all the brush strokes where I want them and my heart releases (One piece on my blog took me 20 year before I shared it with the public – it is all about me) hmm interesting or not?
I liked this post and what it made me think about. Thank you
Patricia’s last blog post..How We Met Entry #4
I’m a champion tweaker. The Revisions list on my Wordpress admin site is yards long! Eventually though, the post does settle and set, and it’s a gut feeling of satisfaction that lets me know it’s finished.
As to photos, the shot is rarely ‘done’ when it’s taken. I usually want to crop to home in on the main subject and improve the composition. I may want to alter the colour, or focus or lighting. The initial shot is only the beginning.
Valerie Beeby’s last blog post..iPhone Art. A Bigger Size of Small.
It’s done when it says its done. I don’t seem to have much say in it.
Barb, I have tagged you for a “One Lovely Blog” award.
Ellen
Ellen’s last blog post..A Lovely Surprise – Two Blog Awards
When is art done? I know what you mean, but I’d like to add another thought. Art is only truly “done” when it is put away and never looked at again. Art has a life that continues as long as someone looks at it, and sees the story.
In your lovely painting above, one has to wonder where everyone is going on such a rainy day? The lights in the windows are on, who is sitting and looking out at the rain? Fixing dinner? or . . . so many possibilities, so much life. As long as one can come back and go into the story again, it’s not “done”, it’s alive.
Hi Barb:
I just wanted to tell you how moved I have been since discovering your blog. I came here last week and left a long message and it didn’t accept it because I left my e-mail out.
So hope this one takes. I really love your painting. When I came here I was tweaking a painting I had done and read this and just knew it was sooo true for me. I still want to work on things after they are finished. I also read another little story on your blog about encouraging people and helping them to become the best they can, yet retain who they are. I can’t quote it or remember it correctly, but it was something like, having alot of friends does not define who we are, it is the uniqueness of us as individuals with our own thoughts and passions and the way we conduct our lives. You said failure on a test was not important sometimes, if you were never presented the material or something of that tone, (in other words, don’t be so hard on ouselves when we don’t succeed to our expectations.) Theres always another day to try and another opportunity and not to waste it on regret. I think this particular blog post with your comments How do we know when art is done..is soo great. It reminded me of Michaelangelo telling the Pope when he would ask that and his reply would be “When I am finished”. It looked done to others possibly but he was going to work until he was finished in his own mind. I think even great artists ask themselves this question…when do I quit, do I tweak it just a little more… very interesting and inspiring blog Barb. I loved spending time here. Have a wonderful weekend. I will be back again. Judith