Before my troop of people and animals headed out to our county fair in July, I was in full snack prep mode. Yes, there would be fair food, but we also needed some snacks (lots of snacks) back at our camper to get us through the week. I decided I would make some homemade Chex mix. I’ve made a couple different versions of Chex mix before, but not very often. I found a recipe for what I would call a very traditional version, and this particular one cooked in the crock pot. I got all my stuff, customized it a little by leaving out the peanuts and adding in Cheez Its, etc. (Does anyone like or eat the peanuts?)
Well, my personalized version of this crock pot Chex mix came out soggy. I did everything like the recipe said, but it was a flop. A fail. Or was it? Maybe it just needed more time in the oven. So, I poured it out on a baking sheet and baked it until everything was nice and crispy. Not a fail after all, just unfinished.
Can paintings be like Chex mix? Of course, that’s why I wanted to mention my almost failed county fair snack situation. My last collection of paintings has sat on my shoulders for a few months, feeling like a failure. I was so excited about theses paintings, I picked out my recipe for them, and added in everything I liked, but they fell a little short. Soggy, if you will. Out of one hundred pieces I only sold four, and this should have surprised me, but it really didn’t. I’m terrible at marketing, for one thing, and maybe these paintings just weren’t finished. I usually love lining up all my paintings and signing them all and varnishing them as I tie up a collection, but I didn’t do that to this group. I think I knew that they needed to go back in the oven for a bit.
So, that’s what I’m going to do. I”m going to pull some things I love that are missing, and add it to the last farm abstract collection. I’m going to let myself experiment and play. Maybe it will work out and the paintings will finish out like my Chex mix. Not failed, just unfinshed.
This journal entry also serves as an announcement that if you liked any of the paintings from the farm abstract series as is, you might want to go ahead and buy them! I’m going to start pulling the listings out from the shop as I rework them!
“Red on the Horizon 2.0” This is a painting from my farm abstract series that I reworked with some collage. I still don’t think its quite finished, but it feels closer than it did before!