When I was an undergrad (history of art major with a focus on late medieval and early northern Renaissance), I saw a video if Jackson Pollock painting. The video was filmed from the underside of a transparent sheet of something, and as Pollock painted he was narrating what he was doing.
From sergiodelmolino.blogia.com
At a certain point he stopped and explained he was done - he had lost touch with the painting. Done. Nada más. I had a difficult time understanding that moment as a 19 year old. I was taking a studio drawing class and my biggest challenge was knowing when to stop. Of course Pollock didn't mean he was finished and the painting was great; he thought it was trashed. I wonder about both of these issues. When was a piece finished? When is one more line too much? Beading, stringing, wirework, el al, is no different. When am I done?
working on my third row
I continued for quite sometime with this piece, but after about 15 rows, and despite the fact that there were sections that I loved, I lost touch with it. Done. Nada más. Something similar happened to me the day before yesterday. I put together a piece of stringing and was all excited about the beads. But BAM, it didn't speak to me. So last night I took it apart. I took out beads and left only two types and a pretty lampwork bead. It came together. Less is more. These are slightly different problems, but in my mind they are connected. Sometimes I know when something isn't working and sometimes I stubbornly plow ahead and pretend all is well. Knowing when to stop and when one more bead is too many is the art.
