Overwhelmed

 "Overwhelmed"

This oil painting is one of the longest wrestles with art I have ever had. "Overwhelmed" was inspired by the beautiful surrealistic work by Meghan Howland that can be seen here. 

I started painting this piece way back in March and finished it only a few days ago. For six months it sat in some sad corner looking like the image shown below.

Last spring, I applied for Marie Walsh Sharpe, a two week art camp in Colorado. In the application, there had to be a portfolio included, and unfinished and all, "Overwhelmed" was sent along with it. That was about the time I gave up on trying to get the skin tones right and decided to discard it.

Winston Churchill once said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts." 

Looking back on the year, as many do in the closing days of December, I see a great year. Not really "great" in the way that it felt like one big party, but more in an accomplished way. What sticks to me is all of the hard work. The autumn and winter months remain a blur in my memory, and I have to make myself think to see if any of my work really paid off. If it did, either it was pretty melodramatic or it's still in the mail. Even if juggling everything in life can be taxing, it is worth feeling overwhelmed for a while. 

-M