Hee Hee Hooo

72 hours of labor, and a painting is born.

It's funny when I finish something of this magnitude (it was a 30 x 30 inch painting....biggest one yet for Reenie Rose).  While I am working on a painting, I definitely step back and observe my work, but it's not until I complete it that I am surprised at what has been produced.  This painting was so incredibly striking to me and I just couldn't get over that I actually painted it.  I found myself just sitting and staring at this piece or walking past it to take another look.  How did my hand do this?

Now I've never had a child, but I imagine it is a somewhat similar feeling.  You know the process for the most part and have an idea of what the outcome will be, but the first time you look at your baby, it's pure magic.  I guess I kind of see myself as a surrogate mom bearing a child for another couple.  My paintings are my babies that I can stare at and ogle until it is time to pass them off without any strings attached....hoping to maybe run into them again one day.  Is this a weird comparison?  Do you think other artists ever look at their art and are boggled by their creation? 

I wonder, is there something you have done that upon stepping back from it, you were completely amazed at your own abilities?  It's crazy how we can surprise ourselves without even planning on it.