Perseverance

"Times Square Messenger"  24x24" Acrylic

The all-time worst piece of advice I ever got from a teacher was that at all stages of the painting it must look good. That crazy idea stuck with me for years and so many paintings were trashed before they ever had a chance to develop.  There are ugly stages - especially the start (see below). I'm glad I eventually learned to persevere thru "the uglies" or I'd have given up on art years ago. That being said there are those paintings that never quite graduate out of the ugly stage. But everytime I wrestle with one of those stubborn pieces I learn something new. And if theres one thing in life I'm completely sure of, theres always more to learn!

This morning I saw a facebook video by a writer who described the struggles of growing into the artist you aspire to be. I shared it on my facebook page, Patti MollicaArt.  It's for real.

Here's the video.   Every artist struggles, it's how we grow. 

Abstracting City Shapes

"Looking South on Tenth Ave."  12x12", Acrylic  Click for info

Sometimes I like to paint the same image more than once, and push it in different ways. This is the same intersection as "Gallery District NYC", posted a few days ago, but much more abstracted. Again, I had to create people to give interest to the focal point, but this time I left in the van and delivery truck.  I think they work in this version because they help lead your eye to the focal point. Plus I think they add some needed diagonal direction to balance out the strong vertical and horozontal shapes.

Chelsea Watertowers

Chelsea Watertower  13.5x13.5  Acrylic  (SOLD)

I'm a pretty bad photographer, which sometimes I think is a blessing in disguise. It forces me to use my imagination a lot, and design my paintings, rather than rely on what is actually there, since often I can't see what's there.  I guess it is the "make lemonade from lemons" approach.
I worked on this piece at the same time as it's sister piece (below) - I wanted them to work together, as a series. Maybe I will paint another one so that there are 3 in the series - or 4... I have a lot of bad photos to choose from!