The crazy part?  This series of photos showing the progress of this piece is missing the entire first half of its story.  I began working on this piece in my studio at home many weeks ago, and it started with my pulling off layer after layer after layer from an entirely different piece until I had a deconstructed composition I liked, which was the top image.

That is what it looked like when I brought it into the other studio earlier this month and I have since added many new layers.  I can't really explain why, but this piece has a hold on me, and I don't think I'll have the heart to hang it in the show I'm in next month.  I rarely get attached to my creations – most of the time I am happy to release them.  But every once in a while I want to keep something for at least a little while, so I've learned to just go with that and not obligate myself to let go of anything I've created before I'm ready.

This piece hangs in my studio and reminds me to go as far as I can with every creation, to never shy away from the pursuit of creating something that makes my heart sing in order to play it safe so I can create things I merely like.

"Control, apparently, is not the answer.  People who need certainty in their lives are less likely to make art that is risky, subversive, complicated, iffy, suggestive or spontaneous.  What's really needed is nothing more than a broad sense of what you are looking for, some strategy for how to find it, and an overriding willingness to embrace mistakes and surprises along the way.  Simply put, making art is chancy – it doesn't mix well with predictability.  Uncertainty is the essential, inevitable and all-pervasive companion to your desire to make art.  And tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding."  ~Art & Fear