Laughing Brook

14" x 18" acrylic on canvas

This painting is a revisit of a previous painting I'd done that wasn't satisfying me--keeping in mind that 'satisfaction' like beauty is in "the eyes of the beholder". It's impossible to please everyone so I aim first to paint (or even repaint) a work until, at a minimum, it no longer nags at me to change it or, ideally, I arrive at a point where I actually like it. It's a mysterious process where the painting 'speaks' to me; this is often subtle. I call it 'the niggle', a discomfort that tells me there's something about it that's amiss. Sometime it takes a while to figure out the source of the bother and sometime you're stumped and just need to put it away, out of view, for days or even months and then, when considered again, the source becomes obvious and can be adjusted. Or, after making changes, it continues to niggle and, thus, asks for more changes. Any artist will know that 'finishing' a painting can be a challenge to land!