Repeats-It's A Good Thing!

Some pieces take you places you can never return to, they can't be mimicked or duplicated, they simply had a life of their own.  Granted all our paintings are original, but some you can manage to recapture the essence of them when necessary, as is often the case with custom work.  People fall in love with a piece that's sold and ask you to 'recreate' as best you can the original.

I'm working on one of those elusive pieces right now.  Fortunately my client is a dream to work with, they will be happy if I just paint in the same style and come up with something that will go with the one they already own.  But I would love to be able to recapture all the amazing colours, shades and blends that went into the creation of this one the first time.  I remember it well.  It was a 'failed' piece that simply wasn't going where I had planned and I went a little Jackson Pollock on it and let loose with a frenzied bout of slinging, splattering, and spraying in textures, basically just going paint happy because it simply didn't matter if it worked out, for I had nothing to lose.

It would seem there is always a balancing of frenzied play and calculated measures when it comes to creating.  I'm always looking for those right combinations of colours that will interact and play well together no matter what I do with them. I don't like muddied, muted colours in my own work. Clear, rich, deep transparent is my happy zone!  Understanding that about myself early on has saved me from chasing down may rabbit trails of ideas, styles and techniques, and when I stumble off my path I know it in short order, the creative juices shut down and my energy dries up!

Michele Cassou has this to say about repeats and fighting the Dragon of Control:

"Doing something more than once if often thought of as being uninventive and uninspired.   During repeats, the painter is actually exploring some new inner ground, some place out of the way, some secret area difficult to reach...Repeats signal substance rather than dullness...the Dragons of Control try to discourage painters from going further..." Point Zero