Selling a painting involves letting go. For me, letting go of a painting involves trading a piece of me for the ability to continue to create more paintings. In the studio, I get in touch with myself more deeply than anywhere else. Painting in the studio is about who I am as a person. How I see in the studio is different than how I see when out on-the-spot painting. Outside I allow the landscape to dictate how my paintings need to be, while in the studio, I listen to my paintings as they speak to me. In the studio, my soul has a voice in how the painting grows.
For me, art is more than a way of making a living. For real artists, what we do is more than simply painting a picture. Sounds a bit elitist, but there are those who need to paint and then those who find painting a simple way of making a living. I cannot say who is a real artist or who is simply painting because they can. There are times when I see paintings that reveal the hand which painted them. Boring brush work reveals a hand that had no real connection to a subject. There are other telltale signs of the difference in paintings by an artist and those simply painting for the money.
I, for one, find it difficult to let go of some paintings. I give my all to each and every painting. A few, mostly those done in the studio, involving subjects close to my heart are hard to let go of, though not always my best works. Sometimes my best works are done without my soul getting involved. Those are easy to let go of. Then there are also those that mean a lot to me, I'd find it difficult to let go of, and are less desirable to buyers and collectors. Sometimes working in the studio is quite difficult with all the decisions I need to make. What to paint, what size to paint, what colors to use, who to hire and will they be reliable? While I find going out to paint simpler, while others find it hard work.
