Why do you like these paintings, anyway?

My mother-in-law came over last night and made a sizeable dent in my supply of cards and paintings! The three paintings she bought were the ones that I struggled with the most. The two large ones (“Sometimes I feel stuck” and “Surrender”) were re-painted a few times, and hated a few times (or more), but when they were finished I ended up liking them (-ish). They weren’t my favourites, but I liked them enough. I continue working on paintings until they feel complete, not until I like them. I found it really interesting that my mother-in-law zeroed in on those three right away. Even at the Sophia Arts fall show and sale, most of the comments I received were about those paintings (the two large ones, anyway). Someone even wanted to buy one of them at the show! I find it really interesting how people respond to the paintings I make, particularly when I am not sure I even like them. Somehow, my least favourites end up being somebody’s favourites. It gives me the courage to bring everything to a show, because you never know what people will respond to! My guess is that it has something to do with the energy I have invested in the painting. I think some people are able to sense that when they look at a painting. This is part of why I don’t like to duplicate paintings for people – they will never have the same energy that was put into the original.

Without any good segue, I will also say that my children are almost all healthy again, thank goodness! Z’s fever finally broke after 4 days, and they are all back to school. Yay!

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