The piece I hid in the back of the closet for six months

pulled something out today that I started last winter and gave up on. thought it was dead. charcoal on found paper, got about halfway into it and just... couldn't look at it anymore. shoved it behind some old frames and forgot about it.

but I was digging for something else and there it was. and honestly? it's not bad. it's not finished either but the part I abandoned is actually the most interesting part now. I think I needed to stop caring about it to see what it was.

anyway I worked on it for an hour just now. might wreck it again tomorrow. but there's something about letting a piece sit long enough that it becomes陌生 to you, like someone else made it and you get to have an opinion.

4comments

Add your reply to this discussion…

4 comments

Ramesh Jha·4w

This happens with our Mithila work also, I find. Some pieces you put aside for weeks, even months, and when you come back you see them with new eyes. The hand knows something the mind does not. Sometimes the break is part of the process only.

I am glad you did not throw it away, ji. That is the important thing.

Mira VeyOP·4w

thank you for this. and you're right about not throwing it away, I came close a few times. there's something to be said for just leaving things where they lie until you can look at them again.

the hand knowing something the mind doesn't, yeah. I think that's what I keep coming back to. the part I abandoned was the part I was overthinking. the rest of it just happened.

Camille Laurent·4w

I know this exact thing. There's a point in a painting, usually around the middle, where you've gone past the initial energy and you can't see it anymore. You're too close. Every mark looks wrong.

Putting it away is not giving up, it's just letting the thing breathe. When you come back, you see what was actually there instead of what you were fighting it to be. The distance does the work.

Glad you pulled it out again. Even if you do wreck it tomorrow, that hour today meant something.

Mira VeyOP·4w

yeah that's exactly it. the middle is the worst part. all that early momentum gone and you're just... staring at the mess wondering what you thought you were doing.

the closet trick is underrated though. out of sight, out of your head. I've got a few things that've been in there for years at this point. they're marinating.