A Painting I Started and Gave Up On

On slumps and such

I’m clearing out my old iPad in the hopes of reselling it. I don’t know if pawnshops accept old technology, but I’m hoping so. In the process, I found this seascape I started on, but never finished.

At the moment, I find myself in a terrible creative slump. I’m not inspired, and everything I want to do feels so vague and distant that even starting feels impossible. It’s not fun! And yet, seeing this little painting gives me a sense of hope.

We are capable of putting paint to canvas and pen to paper. We sometimes forget, over time, that the option to start is there, and so is the option to abandon. We live in our wake thousands of half-finished or un-started ideas. It’s normal. The scraps are a part of the process, too.

And while I wouldn’t try to frame this nearly-done painting or sell it, I see in it an odd flicker of something. Is it comfort? Relief? I’m not sure, but it reminds me that time goes on and on, and not everything we endeavor upon ultimately becomes something that can stand on its own, but I’ve made wonderful things before this painting, and I’ve made wonderful things since.

I think it will all be okay.