There are times you will find yourself mired in a quandary. Sometimes the solution becomes clear in a relatively short amount of time and in others it takes a while to get clarity. Making art is a great metaphor for life in this regard.
I’ve had two art pieces that were finished – but not. Some things were missing and I did not know what. So I let them sit for weeks revisiting them from time to time. I had to let the questions percolate within me for months and be patient. Recently, I finished both pieces. All that mulling worked out in the long run.
The collage (“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”) piece pictured was mounted on a cradled (dimensional) board. Over the weeks I added more marks and contrast but it still wasn’t enough. I finally came to the realization that it needed a more definite frame around it. Thus I purchased a bigger cradled board, flipped it around, painted it a deep plum, and then mounted the collage board within it. Voila- closure!
The ceramic mask was the same way as I tried bits of this and that over weeks. In the end, I replaced the headdress of wheat with two lovely feathers, mounted a piece of an old earring on the forehead, and then glued brass nails around the neck area. That last step made the formerly boring piece really shine.
In both cases, it took me about three months to get resolution. The muse can be slow. Rushing won’t work. I do this same process with my writing. Put it away and let it stew for a while. There is nothing like having fresh eyes when looking upon a problem.
Solutions will come. Sometimes you just have to slow down and be patient!
By Alanna Pass 
both beautiful Alanna! Sometimes I work through problems in my dreams…makes for an interesting nights sleep 😉
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I love both your finished pieces. I know what you mean about letting things ‘percolate’ for a while. I will work on a poem for months before deciding it is finally ready. As far as visual art, I do the same. I worked on this one watercolor painting for months and couldn’t get the butterfly right. The foliage and the blossoms worked well but after three tries I realized I was never going to get the butterfly right. So I cut it up and made a book marker out of a slice, cut some more of it up to make a birthday card for a friend. I still have more that I can use!
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I’ve also made a lot of very cool greeting cards and bookmarks using that very same process you did!
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