Mind Over Matter

There are a pile of unfinished paintings in my studio, at least 10 or 12. All are at different stages of development. Some are just sketches on good watercolour paper ready to go. Others are those drawings that I wished I'd drawn on good watercolour paper, but hold their potential on cartridge paper and may just have to become detailed drawings. A few are inked up and ready to paint, possibly with a background wash or maybe even a few layers and then, well, then I get nervous. Maybe apprehensive is a better word, but it is almost as though I have to leave them alone for a bit- wait for the excitement and  anticipation of a result to recede before I can settle a just play.
My imagination never stops, so frequency of ideas far outstrips the time available to complete a painting. Too much mind, not enough matter! Don't get me wrong, I have many finished pieces as well and they will be posted here at some point in the future, after they have been de-framed and travelled to the printers.
Then it occurred to me maybe I need the pressure of a deadline to help me focus- so a weekly blogpost is my self imposed deadline of sorts.

Below is one that has been hanging around for ages. I can't even remember what particular circumstances might have led to her arrival, never the less she is now finished.
She is custodian of a very rare botanical specimen called "Spectacle plant" (Tardus spectaculis).
It grows in the forests of North-West Russia. Flowering once in fifty years, each plant produces only two spectacles in a life time. The type and strength of lens is affected by the acidity or alkalinity of the soil, ergo with careful nurturing a specified lens strength can be grown to order. Foresight and patience are all thats required.

                     
                           'Custodian of the Spectacles'


                           Original size 140mm x 160mm




     All photographs thanks to my wonderful daughter.