Destruction of Creativity = More Creativity

Every artist destroys their own work at some point, whether it be an accident or an outburst of frustration.

It's a good thing creativity knows no bounds.

One of the three massive pale paintings I wrote about the other day is now pitch black. It bears no resemblance to what it once was, or the other two that were intended to match. After spending an entire day yesterday wrestling the paint onto the canvas in such a way that was aesthetically pleasing, I was still not satisfied with the results. It's like I suddenly forgot how to paint altogether.

And when my husband's response to these paintings was simply, “I like them,” I knew right then that they were no good.

I woke up early this morning and covered over an entire painting with black paint. It is now setting out to dry. I have not destroyed my own work in a very long time, but my guess is that this has something to do with the size of these canvasses.

Negativity accomplishes nothing, and so I looked at this mess as a catharsis, a chance to think outside the box and delve into a new realm of creativity. I could have scraped the canvasses off completely and began anew, but I have another idea in mind.

Don't laugh.

I took a trip to a very good interior design store this morning and picked up some deep red glossy oil paint. It was very expensive paint, but I can't be bothered to keep painting these canvasses with the oil paint in the tubes.

And in the true spirit of thinking differently, not caring so much what the result is because it can't be worse than what it was, I decided I will give myself a sort of release from this taxing work and throw the red paint at the black canvas once it dries.

If nothing else, it will be an experiment.