Mobile Art – APPart – ‘Don’t Stop ‘Till It’s Done’

Sometimes when we’re creating, we have to wage war with the work.  This piece is a perfect example of something I fought for a very long time before the pieces (and there are lots of them in here) all come together.

I began this piece with a pretty clear idea where I was going, or so I thought! I wanted to create something that was about the state of the world we are leaving for future generations. I had taken some photos a couple of years ago of a display at the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology of embryonic development. I used an image of a foetus whose facial features were just beginning to form. My vision for the piece was to try and capture the mystery of unborn children in the womb, a subject that fascinates me.

So, I began drawing, layering, texturizing and so forth to create this piece Unfortunately, I kept going down paths that weren’t working  they either didn’t convey what I wanted, didn’t get the depth I wanted to achieve, etc. I would think that the piece was finished, put it away for awhile and come back later to immediately see that it still needed work. It was getting very frustrating, and my temptation was to just call it a day and be done with it.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all been at that junction at one time or another when we are working  at least I hope I’m not alone here! I just want to remind you all (myself included) that it’s very important that we keep working till the art sings. Never give up; some pieces are just more trying than others.

This quick video shows many, not all, of the interim stages of my image “What Legacy Will We Leave?” All of these images are incorporated in some way to reach the final piece.