Comments on: When do you destroy your art? < Deep Thought Thursday

By: Clean Up, Wrap Up, Gear Up « Art Biz Blog

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 23:13:13 +0000

[…] an artwork you’ve been neglecting, or break it down and recycle its parts. Fix something that is […]

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By: Mary Hastings

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 22:24:51 +0000

Like the other potters have said, the hammer is my best friend. I jokingly say that I fear future archaeologists will painstakingly reassemble the shards I have landfilled, thinking they are examples of how our current society functioned and try to find deep meaning in them. NO – they are garbage. I do like the idea of making a ritual of the destruction and may try to save this year’s reject pots for a cathartic New Year’s “bash”.

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By: Michael Goettee

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:28:20 +0000

Although Facebook has continued to further my art career in great ways, sometimes I wish I HAD destroyed some early (and I do mean EARLY) artwork when an old friend says, “We still have that painting you did for us back in… (the dawn of DUST)…and HERE IT IS ON FACEBOOK FOR ALL TO SEE.”
Lord help me!

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By: Esther Longmore

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:16:42 +0000

I like to hang on to most of my stuff. Ok, everything. I get satisfaction remembering where I came from and seeing my progression over the years in only a matter of minutes. The pieces I’m not proud of are only there for me to reflect upon. They shaped me into the artist I am today.
Granted I only visually reflect once in a great while, but most of my work is either flat or digital and doesn’t require as much space as some other mediums.

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By: Gail Frasier

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:16:43 +0000

Liking the comments of Mea, Karen and c j taylor. I keep the not so hot vessels on my shelves, look with a different eye than the initial disappointed eye, learn what I don’t like about them, then, each January, I have a personal & private smashing party for those that didn’t pass muster. If they are not to my standards, I don’t want them out there with my name on them. Smashing sets me free and it provides material for mosaic artists who come by for the shards.

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By: Jennifer

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:59:23 +0000

In reply to Lynne.

Beautifully stated !!!!!!!

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By: Jennifer

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:56:49 +0000

Letting go of something that you worked hard to make and has emotion involved is very challenging. I found this very difficult in the beginning. I have grow to now love the process of discarding works I do not love. I liked them at the time I make them or they may have been difficult to create but in the end if I don’t love it…….. I don’t want to present it to the world. If I no longer love it and it’s been sitting in the stock for a while…..I let it go! It’s served it’s purpose. Sometimes I keep items for years and other times they are gone very quickly.
I’ve learned that a fresh painting over canvas only stirs up renewed motivation/inspiration and has proven many times over that only better comes out of it. Some of my best pieces have been a result of a painted over canvas that “didn’t feel quite right” the first time or the second…. or the third. There is cleansing in getting rid of the old!
We have to all grant ourselves permission to change our mind! That’s the beauty in what we do 🙂

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By: Lynne

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:21:48 +0000

In reply to Jan Yatsko.

What a lovely idea!

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By: Lynne

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:20:43 +0000

I am in the middle of an “artistic mid-life crisis” at the moment and am really examining my art, my directions and what I want my future to look like. Slowly but surely things are being made evident and one of them was that if I have canvases sitting in closets or stacked in the studio that I would never hang in public again, let alone sell, it is time to “set them free” instead of having them weighing me down. Last week I spent a very meditative, almost spiritual day with twenty of them, from tiny little 6×6″ pieces up to 36×48″ ones. I love texture in my acrylic/mixed media work so many of them received added layers of paste, paper, gesso, sand, etc. before they all were painted over with white. Some ended up completely white & textured while others have hints & glimpses of the original art peeking out. By the end of the session I was literally singing out loud to myself (be glad you didn’t get to experience that part of the process) I was so happy! There was a release to it and the possibility of those pieces being artistically “re-birthed” into something new, current and in line with my future direction feels wonderful.

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By: Nora

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:15:24 +0000

I destroyed a painting with a chainsaw (wih the help of my husband!). it was oil on panel. huge, cumbersome and there were only a couple of elements I liked about the piece. I took the huge frame to a frame shop and had them make several smaller frames, so at least something was salvageable.

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